Kathmandu: The UML strongman, Madhav Kumar Nepal is back from his short but presumably “meaningful” Delhi pilgrimage. Though the maverick communist leader has so far not revealed the purpose of his sudden visit, however, mature political analysts are quick to conclude that Mr. Nepal should have met his Indian mentors and in the process could have also discussed with his Maoists friends.

However, no substantial proof of all these presumptions have so far been made by any quarter in Nepal.

Madhav’s family sources say that Mr. Nepal’s Delhi trip was just made to see his ailing daughter who is currently enjoying Indian scholarship for her Medical degree, the MBBS.

Be that as it may, Madhav Nepal upon his return from Delhi is now a politically changed personality. However, what made him to acquire a rough and tough position towards those whom he concludes that it were they who had been dilly-dallying the talks with the Maoists.

“It is again the regressive forces that have been impeding the talks with the Maoists”, said a furious Madhav Nepal a few days ago.

But then what factors made him to change his previous stance is still unclear. However, the fact is that for Madhav Nepal now it is not the regressive forces that had been blocking the talks with the Maoists. Now a changed Madhav Nepal says, “the talks with the Maoists will take place come what may”.

This comes closer on the heels of his own party DPM, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, who the other day revealed that he have had received positive signals from the camp of the rebels and that he could read from those signals that the Maoists too were eager for the talks.

Serious security analysts opine that the recent Indian political overtures indicate that India as a neighboring country too is in a mood to curb the Maoists insurgency in Nepal as she now concludes that the ever growing linkages in between the Nepali Maoists with their own insurgents scattered in different parts of the country could have a disastrous impact on their own overall security.

Security analyst, Dr. Karna Thapa sees Indian gesture of handing over of some Maoists rebels to Nepal as a clear indication that India is a changed country now.

In addition to that, a senior Indian counter-insurgency officer, Vinay Kumar Singh, has noted that guerrilla leaders in Nepal and India had talked about a “red corridor” stretching from Nepal into the Indian states of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. “We all laughed at it some 10 years ago at the existence of a ‘red corridor,'” he said. “Nobody is laughing any more”, writes Richard Halloran, a former New York Times correspondent in Asia and military correspondent in Washington, D.C in a story recently printed in the Korea herald.

Pleasing as it is, reports have it that Prime Minister Deuba is determined to extend an open invitation to the Maoists for a meaningful dialogue. And this he is doing on the eve of his impending India visit.

The importance of this open invitation lies here.