India to Nepal: Reconcile to restore peace

KATHMANDU, Wednesday (Reuters) A visiting Indian official called on Tuesday for a reconciliation between Nepal's King Gyanendra and the country's warring political parties to restore peace in the Himalayan kingdom.

Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, ending a three-day visit to Nepal, had talks with the monarch who fired the multi-party government and seized power on Feb 1.

Saran, the most senior official in the Indian Foreign Ministry, also met leaders of the main political parties pressing for the restoration of democracy.

"In all my meetings, I have conveyed that restoration of peace and stability and economic recovery in Nepal is not only in the interest of Nepal but also in India's interest," Saran told reporters. Last month, seven Nepali political parties forged a loose alliance with Maoists rebels to end the king's absolute powers.

"It is very important that the constitutional forces should be working together - constitutional forces means both the institution of monarchy (and) the institution of political parties," Saran, a former Indian ambassador to Nepal, said.

The king says he took power after political parties failed to crush the Maoist revolt in which more than 12,500 people have been killed since 1996.

India, like Britain and the United States, suspended arms supplies to Nepal after the monarch's seizure of power and Saran said that position had not changed.