Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey has clarified that Nepal will never seek military or diplomatic assistance from any international quarters including India for brokering peace and stability for resolution of the Maoist problem.

In an interview to the Press Trust of India in Varanasi on Saturday, Pandey said, “Nepal will never seek military or diplomatic assistance from any international quarter, including India, for brokering peace and stability for resolution of the Maoist problem.”

The rebels were operating in collusion with their ultra-Left counterparts in India and “acting on a common programme to supplant the political system of the two countries with the Communist set-up in the long run,” the PTI quoted foreign minister Pandey as saying.

Their common agenda of Maoist was to destabilise peace, democracy and the political setup through insurgency and violence in both countries, Pandey said.

He asked the global community to treat the Maoist insurgency as a “phenomenon of international terrorism” as the ultra-left agenda aimed at destabilising democracy, peace and stability in Nepal and neighbouring countries.

He sought to equate the Maoist problem with religious militancy in other countries “as all these divisive forces are posing a threat to peace and democracy”. The global community should have a singular view on terrorism irrespective of it being region specific, Pandey said.

Foreign Minister Pandey’s response came at a time when major donor countries have stalled their assistance following the February 1 royal takeover of the last year.

The military assistance from India, the United States (US) and the UK remained stalled following the royal takeover of last year.