A five-member delegation of leaders of India’s main opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in Kathmandu on a short visit.

The BJP team led by the party’s foreign cell chief Surendra Arora met with Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of the UML, on Wednesday.

During their four-day stay in Kathmandu, the BJP delegation is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and leaders of Nepali Congress (Democratic), Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and even Maoists.

The BJP’s visit is significant since it is the only major Indian political party to have publicly expressed doubts about the sincerity of the Maoists. The BJP leadership had also expressed dissatisfaction over the decision to turn Nepal into a secular country and has been apprehensive about efforts to bring down monarchy.

A party that stands on the plank of Hindu nationalism, BJP had been supportive of Nepal remaining the only Hindu Kingdom in the world.

On their visit to Kathmandu, an Indian media report commented that “for the first time, the BJP, segments of which still support King Gyanendra, will be meeting Maoist guerrillas who are poised to join parliament.”

The BJP team is expected to meet Maoist leader Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, it said. The meeting assumes significance as it could lead to fresh rethinking on the part of BJP regarding its position about the latest political developments in Nepal.