India and the United States called Wednesday for a return to multi-party democracy in Nepal, saying the seizure of power in the Himalayan outpost by King Gyanendra was a "setback" for the region. Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice issued the call after talks in the Indian capital. "We discussed important regional and global questions. We approached these issues (on the basis of) our common commitment to democracy, pluralism and prosperity," Singh said.
"On Nepal we agreed that recent events have been a setback to these goals. Democratic freedoms must be restored and reconciliation with political parties must lead to a return to a multi-party democracy in Nepal," he added.
Gyanendra dismissed a four-party coalition government on February 1 and seized control of Nepal, imposing emergency rule and vowing to tackle an increasingly bloody Maoist revolt that has claimed 11,000 lives since 1996.
The power grab has been widely condemned internationally, with India and Britain freezing military aid needed by Nepal's badly-equipped army to fight the Maoists while Washington has threatened to follow suit unless the king restores basic freedoms.
"There needs to be a return to democracy in Nepal," Rice said in an interview with Indian television station NDTV.
Rice told a press conference India and the US shared "regional responsibilities but also increasingly global responsibilities".
"We had a chance to talk about Afghanistan, about Iraq and specially about the challenge to democracy in Nepal where we had outstanding co-operation between our ambassadors to try and help that country to get back on the democratic path ... that simply must happen and we are in complete agreement that it needs to happen very, very soon," she said.
Meanwhile in Kathmandu, US ambassador James Moriarty met the sacked premier of Nepal, Sher Bahadur Deuba, officials said.
Deuba's Nepali Congress (Democratic) issued a statement saying the pair discussed "the current political situation, mutual co-operation and the relation between the two nations."
Deuba was released from house arrest on March 11 after being detained for more than a month and met India's envoy to Nepal on Monday.
On March 2, Moriarty had been prevented by security forces from meeting Nepal Congress president and ex-prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who remains under house arrest.
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