The increasing activities of Nepal’s Maoists are presently the cause of worry and are being noticed by the United States, which has not thought twice and has branded them terrorists. The annual US report included the Nepalese Maoists in the list of 38 foreign terrorist organizations. The Maoists have links with Indian extreme Left groups like the Communist Party Marxist-Leninist (People’s War) (CPML-PW) and the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC). These groups aim to establish a Compact Revolutionary Zone (CRZ) stretching from Nepal to Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Dandakarnya and Telangana regions in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh respectively.

They are trying to gain control over the Nepal and India’s Nepal policy-makers are worried over the issue if the Maoists gain controls in Nepal. In orthodox Maoism, there are three phases of protracted war: the strategic defensive, the strategic offensive. According to this model, the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist [CPN-M] has, in its battle with the government, reached a strategic stalemate: it is not as powerful as the government in terms of troop strength and military equipment, but is almost equal in terms of actions, initiatives and control of the countryside. The Maoists appear to have decided that the time is ripe for their do-or-die moment.

The Nepalese Maoist also played a role in setting up of the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia (CCOM-POSA), which aims to spread radical leftist views in the region and comprises 10 ultra leftist parties of India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Besides, a confederation of Maoist forces in Kerala, has also expressed solidarity with the Nepalese Maoists. Inputs received in the past indicate that the Maoists have been receiving arms and ammu¬nition from the MCC and the PWG. These groups are learnt to have provided training, logistics and shelter to the Maoist cadres who infiltrate through the porous border between Nepal and India.

There is a demand for the release of Maoist politburo member C.P. Gajurel who is under detention in India since August 20 last year. New Delhi is well aware of the fact that the unprecedented attack on Indian interests in Nepal is fraught with dangerous portents. New Delhi’s assessment is that it has reasons to believe that if such outrageous acts were to be repeated in future, it would harm the interests of the people of Nepal only-an anathema to any insurgent group which thrives essentially on grassroots support.

Nepal is greatly dependent on India for virtually everything from trade and commerce to the now increasingly-felt needs in the security and defense sectors. The Indian strategy to deal with the Maoists is to address the root causes of the problem-poverty and unemployment. For this purpose, a conscious effort is being made to integrate the Indian and Nepalese economies.
The last couple of years have brought a revolutionary change in mode and pattern of Indian assistance to Nepal. Earlier, New Delhi used to focus on implementing big projects in Nepal, but now it has shifted the focus to small projects which get completed fast.