His Majesty King Gyanendra granted audience to three foreign envoys separately at the Narayanhity Royal Palace Sunday evening as the seven opposition political parties stepped up what they call final push against ‘royal autocracy’ –with substantial moral backing from the international community.

Indian ambassador to Nepal Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, US ambassador James F Moriarty and Chinese ambassador Sun Heping received audience with the King in the evening.

The envoys interacted with the King for about one hour each, it is learnt. None of the ambassadors preferred to talk to the media after meeting with the monarch.

Spokesperson of the Indian embassy Gopal Bagley told BBC Nepali service that the meeting between the King and the Indian ambassador was focused on how the present crisis could be resolved along with restoration of democracy and peace in Nepal.

India and the US have described the royal takeover of February 1, 2005, a setback to democracy and have constantly been urging the King to reach out to the parties and return to democratic process while China maintains a neutral position over the royal move.

Both India and US have criticised the government crackdown on the pro-democracy movement of the opposition parties. nepalnews.com Apr 16 06