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US, India hail Nepali gov't-UDMF pact |
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08:36, February 29, 2008 |
The United States and India have welcomed the pact signed between the Nepali government and the agitating United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) on Thursday.
The U.S. embassy in Nepali capital Kathmandu Thursday issued a press release saying that the United States welcomed the decision by the UDMF to sign a political agreement with the Nepali government.
"We expect this agreement will lead the UDMF parties to end their Terai bandh (general strike) with immediate effect and will pave the way for the three parties to participate fully in the upcoming Constituent Assembly election on April 10. We expect further that both sides will fulfill the terms of the agreement," the statement said.
The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu Thursday also released a statement saying that India welcomed the agreement. "It is our hope that all parties would honor and implement this agreement and their previous understandings," the statement said.
A meeting of the Nepali cabinet Thursday evening have endorsed the eight-point agreement signed with the UDMF.
The Nepali government and the agitating UDMF Thursday afternoon inked an eight-point agreement in capital Kathmandu. UDMF hence called off its 16-day agitation since Feb. 13 after the signing of the pact.
The eight-point agreement is reported to include clauses that Madhes and other federal states would be recognized as autonomous regions; proportional recruitment of the Madhesi and other marginalized people in the Nepal Army; and inviting other armed outfits of the Terai to a negotiation table; among others.
UDMF is an alliance of three major Madhes-based parties -- Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF), Terai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) and Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP). Formerly, it put forth a six-point demand to the government and required that to be met by calling on indefinite strike in Terai region since Feb. 13.The strike and sporadic curfew has affected preparation for the CA poll and normal life around the country severely. Five people were reportedly killed in the unrest.
Madhesi people are the Nepalese mainly living in south Nepal's Terai plains, who are socio-culturally close to the bordering Indians.
Source: Xinhua
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