It is quite natural that the recent meeting held in India between the top leaders from the Maoists and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) raised so much discussion and speculation within the country and internationally. It is normal for state and global power centres to interpret what took place within their frame of interest and on their level of comprehension.

But it needs to be clarified that the dialogue between the leaders of the two parties was planned and deliberate. There is no need to give it a mysterious spin. Our party has always admitted that there has to be tripartite power equilibrium among the Maoists, parliamentarian parties and the monarchists. This is why we have been proposing a dialogue among these three forces to work towards a permanent solution.

During the last ceasefire and peace talks period, we regularly met supporters of the old regime and the monarchy, and the parliamentarians who are at present between the old and the new regimes. The current return to conflict is thanks to a militarily intoxicated group who were instigated by some foreign powers with vested interests, and that led to the collapse of the peace negotiations.

We have kept our channels of discussion open with the parliamentary parties agitating against the royal regression. The politburo meeting of our party last month analysed that the struggle among the three forces in the country was gradually changing, melding into a tussle between two factions. In line with that analysis, it
also concluded that a new type of dialogue had to be initiated with the parliamentary parties. Hence, the kind of meeting between top Maoist and UML leaders.

We are not surprised at the royal fascist elements' concern at our meeting. Bullseye! We feel good about
it. The only surprise we have is the way these elements, who cannot survive even for one day without alms from foreigners, have been shedding crocodile tears just because we chose to meet on foreign soil. They are also harping on about how the Indian state has protected the Maoists. Moreover, some people are demonstrating their intellectual bankruptcy when they say that the meeting between Maoist and UML leaders in Siliguri two years ago and the latest one in Lucknow justifies their argument that India has been the base of the entire 'people's war'. They also made a foolish argument that the Maoist problem will not be solved until our party leaders are arrested and extradited by the Indian government.

As for the issue regarding meeting in India, one must understand that we have a problem and an enmity with the Indian reactionary ruling class, not with India and the people. Secondly, everyone must remember that there are more than 10 million poor Nepalis who earn their livelihood in India. We are trying to organise them and under their protection we plan to hold talks with different quarters. There is nothing wrong about it. It is rather a big
revolutionary responsibility. Thirdly, this is the time when the Maoists have already occupied more than 80 percent of the total land area of Nepal, so we are under no compulsion to hold meetings in foreign lands. The people should also know that many national and foreign political powers have lined up to hold talks with our party.
We would like to urge some genuine patriots who are misguided by Goebbelian-styled propaganda of the old regime. They should not just see the outer part of an object or an incident. They must consider the internal and summary aspects to have a clear picture.