Kathmandu: Nepalese Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand has asked all parties to participate in the peace talks starting soon and assured that the government will make the whole exercise transparent.

"The government does not want to exclude political parties in the peace process. We invite them to be a part of the peace process and we are ready to disseminate whatever information they want from us," Chand said on March 2.

The Prime Minister's remarks came in contrast to that of Minister for Housing, Physical Planning and Construction and talks co-ordinator Narayan Singh Pun, who stated that the government will not wait for parties to join the talks, which he claimed will start within a week.

Parties, including Nepali Congress and Nepal Communist Party (UML), had recently boycotted the all-party meeting called by Chand and had demanded that the peace process must be transparent.

"I am still hopeful that they will participate in the peace process in the days ahead," the Premier said.

"Peace is the ultimate goal of people from all walks of life," Chand said, adding all the parties and the civic society should extend co-operation to every effort of the government to restore law and order in the country.

Meanwhile, Pun said the talks would be held in three phases - political, military and humanitarian levels.

Currently, the main challenge before the nation is to include the Maoists within the framework of existing polity through safe management of the ongoing conflict, he added.

PTI