Trying to help Nepal find a way out to deal with the Maoist problem, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran today said Kathmandu needed to convince the rebels to return to the negotiating table while stepping up vigil along the Indo-Nepal border.Calling for a two-pronged strategy, Saran said there are some ‘‘progressive elements’’ among the Maoists who would appreciate that they would not emerge winners in an armed struggle and they will lose their ‘‘bargaining power’’ if their agitation continued. At the same time, India and Nepal, he added, must continue to conduct ‘‘aggressive and proactive’’ border patrolling.Addressing a two-day seminar on ‘Restoring Peace and Stability in Nepal’, he said India would match the patrolling by Nepalese security forces on its side of the border so that pressure was mounted on the Maoists to return to talks. These issues, he added, will be discussed during Nepal King Gyandendra’s visit to India likely to take place later this month.‘‘The Maoists are seeing a fractured polity in Nepal’’. The lack of trust between the monarchy and the political parties had only contributed to worsening the situation.
