Prachanda to discuss new extradition pact during India visit By Shirish B. Pradhan

Kathmandu, Sept 4 (PTI) In an effort to curb the movement
of criminals across the porous border, Nepal's Maoist-led
government has placed the renewal of the extradition treaty
with India on top of the agenda during the planed visit of
Prime Minister Prachanda to New Delhi.

Nepal’s new government will probably look into details of
the draft of the agreement, which was to have been signed
earlier during the Nepali Congress-led coalition government,
before taking up the matter with New Delhi, sources in the
Home Ministry said.

It is likely that besides other matters the issue
relating to the extradition treaty will come up during the
Prime Minister's forthcoming visit to India later this month,
the ministry sources said.

Nepal needs to sign a new treaty to deal with terrorist
and criminal activities as the 50-year-old extradition pact
between the two countries is no longer valid.

The treaty, first signed in 1855 and then revised in
1953, would facilitate the extradition of people wanted for
crimes and economic offences.

The Nepalese premier is expected to visit India before
going to attend the annual session of the UN General Assembly
on Sept 17-18.

Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam has underlined the
government's resolve to end criminal and terrorists activities
in the southern plains bordering India by using force while
attempting to find a political solution to the grievances of
the Terai region.

Nepal will try to reach an agreement with the Indian
authorities for extraditing people wanted for criminal
offences, Gautam earlier told mediapersons, without giving
details on the draft of the treaty.

The truth, sources say, is that the opposition by the
Communist Party of Nepal (C.P.N.)-Maoists had prevented the
extraction treaty from being endorsed during the tenure of
former Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, when the
then Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitoula was all set to take
up the issue with India.

Sitoula had been forced to cancel his visit to India to
sign a new extradition treaty after the Maoists opposed it.

The draft of the treaty mentions handing over terrorists
and criminals, who have crossed the border after committing
crimes. Mutual legal assistance agreement was also drafted at
that time but could not be completed.

During the direct rule of King Gyanendra, some three
years ago, Nepal had signed an updated extradition treaty at
the secretary level with India. However, the treaty could not
be finalised due to certain differences, Home Ministry
officials said.

Prachanda has also sought the revision of the landmark
1950 Indo-Nepal trade and transit treaty. PTI SBP