Friday, April 21 2006 15:14 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh today (Apr 21, 2006) discussed the Nepal crisis with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ahead of his visit to the Himalayan Kingdom as a party representative on Monday.

After his half-an-hour meeting with the Prime Minister, the former External Affairs Minister told reporters that he advocated strengthening both monarchy and people's democracy in the neighbouring country where King Gyanendra had seized absolute power last year.

"The first priority should be the earliest restoration of peace and confidence between political parties and the monarchy in Nepal," he said.

Jaswant Singh described both the King and democracy as two pillars of Nepal's constitutional monarchy.

Asked about his comments on the King's absolute control on the royal army of Nepal, the former Minister called the matter an internal affair of the neighbouring country.

"The matter has to be resolved by democratic elements in Nepal in consultation with the King," he said.

Singh, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, supported Indian intervention in the immediate neighbourhood faced with massive anti-King protests, saying the move was also a necessity on grounds of New Delhi's own security concerns.

"I don't think it is ever too late to start," he remarked when asked whether he believed New Delhi should have acted immediately when trouble erupted in Nepal.

Singh said he also discussed the nuclear deal and other foreign affairs issues with the Prime Minister.