Leaders met Nepalese PM

Kathmandu, December 11: Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala assured the exiled Bhutanese leaders that his new government would take stronger measures for repatriation of all the Bhutanese languishing in Nepal for the last 17 years.

During the meeting with the 7-member delegation of the exiled Bhutanese leaders led by human rights activist Tek Nath Rizal Monday morning, Koirala said Nepal has repeatedly asked the Indian government for involvement in finding the solution of the crisis.

"We have repeatedly asked India for support but it has been avoiding saying the problem was between Nepal and Bhutan," Rizal quoted Koirala as saying.

The delegation of the leaders, including Thinley Penjor of Druk National Congress and Bala Ram Poudel of Bhutan People's Party, urged the Nepalese government to end bilateral talks with Bhutan and take necessary steps to get support from the Indian government for repatriation.

In the half-an-hour long meeting, Nepal's Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula was also present.

Rizal quoted PM Koirala as saying that the Nepal government has not received any kind of formal application from the US or any other western countries for third country settlement.

The US government has time and again expressed its willingness to take some 60,000 exiled Bhutanese to US for settlement.

Two rounds of Nepal-Bhutan talks decided to be held have been postponed after the formation of the new government in Nepal. Bhutan News Service