Amid a political deadlock in Nepal, prime minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy Shyam Saran arrived here today for high-level consultations with leaders of the country, which is without a prime minister for five weeks.
The visit of Saran comes ahead of the fourth round of voting on Friday for a new prime minister in Nepal's Parliament, which has so far failed to elect a leader for the top post.
Saran, also a former Indian ambassador to Nepal, is expected to meet caretaker prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, who had resigned in late June following intense pressure from Maoists.
Nepal's Constituent Assembly had in recent weeks held the polls for the post of prime minister thrice, but both Maoist chief Prachanda and his Nepali Congress rival Ram Chandra Poudyal failed to win simple majority in the 601-strong House.
Saran is also expected to meet top leaders of the major political parties here in an effort to defuse the political crisis and help in government formation through consensus among all groups.
Observers view the visit of former Indian foreign secretary to Nepal as significant as it comes at a time when the country is facing a major political turmoil.
India is considered an influential player in Nepal, which also shares its border with another Asian giant China.
CPN-Maoist is the single-largest party with 238 MPs, while Nepali Congress and CPN-UML have 114 and 109 seats respectively in Nepal's Parliament, which was elected in May 2008.
