Sunday, March 5 2006 11:50 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Varanasi: Nepal has ruled out international assistance or mediation to tackle its Maoist problem despite rebels having a common agenda with their counterparts in India to "supplant political systems" of the two countries with a communist set up.

"Nepal will never seek military or diplomatic assistance from any international quarter, including India, for brokering peace and stability for resolution of the Maoist problem," Nepali Foreign Minister R N Pandey told in an interview here.

The rebels were operating in collusion with their ultra-Left counterparts in India and "acting on a common programme to supplant the political system of the two countries with the Communist set up in the long run," he said.

Their common agenda was to destabilise peace, democracy and the political set-up through insurgency and violence in both countries, Pandey said.

He asked the global community to treat Maoist insurgency as a "phenomenon of international terrorism" as the ultra-Left agenda aimed at destabilising democracy, peace and stability in Nepal and neighbouring countries.

Riled at the lack of international support in tackling the problem, Pandey said the global fraternity should not have "double standards" on the definition of terrorism as all subversive outfits have a similar agenda.

He sought to equate the Maoist problem with religious militancy in other countries "as all these divisive forces are posing a threat to peace and democracy."

The global community should have a singular view on terrorism irrespective of it being region specific, Pandey said.