As his party continued to look forward to forming the next government in Nepal, Prachanda, the leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has said that he would forge a new relationship with India. The Maoists won 61 out of the 112 seats for which results have been announced and they were ahead in most of the remaining 128 constituencies. The 54-year old cited that it was pertinent for Nepal to maintain good relation with neighboring India. Prachanda, however, also pointed out that Nepal would keep equal distance from both India as well as China.

 

Experts in India comment that it is unclear if this meant India would no longer enjoy the pre-eminence it had in multi-lateral relations. The surprising success of the Maoist in Nepal elections has now caused the Indian foreign affairs establishment to weigh the possibilities of maintaining continuity in bilateral ties. Unease over security matters and the loud anti-India stances taken by the Maoists earlier are still at play, but experts opine that a mature approach from both sides would keep things on track.