Tuesday, April 25 2006 16:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Raipur: BJP leader L K Advani today (Apr 25, 2006) welcomed the decision of Nepal's King Gyanendra to revive the country's parliament, but cautioned that India should be careful that Maoists do not gain power in the neighbouring country.

"I welcome the step of the King to revive the parliament. It is an important step towards democracy," he said at a press conference here before leaving for Shahdol as part of his Bharat Surakshya Yatra in Madhya Pradesh.

"We still believe that for bringing stability in Nepal, constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy, both are essential," he said.

But the people, who were concerned about the security of India, cannot ignore the fact that Maoists were planning a redcorridor from Pashupati to Tirupati, covering an area from Nepal border to Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Advani said.

Although the Centre should be careful about it, it would not be surprising if Marxists supported that, he alleged.

"The history of Marxists is that the interest of the country is not the most important while we firmly believe that in the context of foreign policy, national interest should be the prime thing," he said.

"BJP's policy is that the Maoists should be isolated, but the Marxists will be happy if the Maoists dominate the entire politics of Nepal," he added.

He also called on the UPA government to ensure that the Maoists did not gain power in Nepal as that may create problem for India's internal security.