NEW DELHI, May 30 (UPI) -- India remains undecided on the timing and nature of the U.N.'s role in Nepal as that country's new government invites the world body to monitor the cease-fire.
The Indian Express newspaper said Tuesday that the 25-point code of conduct signed by the government and the Maoists last Friday called upon the United Nations to monitor cease-fire.
"New Delhi is not averse to a U.N. Role; it would like to see a careful calibration of what the international community could do and when," an unidentified Indian foreign office official said.
Although the U.N. bureaucracy is always eager to take over peace processes around the world, the official said, its capacity to bring them to a successful conclusion has not been impressive.
The Indian government has so far neither endorsed nor opposed Kathmandu's decision to involve the U.N. in the cease-fire, and is aware that the terms of the U.N.'s possible role in Nepal have yet to be precisely defined.
New Delhi is of the view that the Nepalese government and civil society are capable of coping with the challenges of the peace process -- including the election of a constituent assembly -- on their own.
"India does not like to be dragged deeply in a neighboring country's internal conflict after its troubled intervention in Sri Lanka which resulted in killing of one of its prime ministers," said an Indian foreign diplomat, adding that from the Indian point of view, the U.N. should confine itself to a supportive role in Nepal.
