Kathmandu, Oct.11 : Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s special envoy to Nepal and former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran has commenced parleys with the Nepali leadership.

Saran, who is here on a two-day visit, met Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal and Maoist chairman Prachanda on Wednesday evening.

“The meeting was positive,” Saran told reporters after meeting with Prachanda. Senior Maoist leader Dr Baburam Bhattarai was also present in the meeting.

“We put our concerns in the meeting and special envoy Saran asked us to move ahead together,” Dr Baburam Bhattarai said, referring to Saran’s stress on seven party unity.

However, both Saran and Bhattarai didn’t elaborate on the details of the meeting.

Kantipur Daily quoted a source as saying that Saran had stressed on the need of holding the Constituent Assembly election at the earliest possible.

Saran arrived in Kathmandu on Wednesday afternoon to discuss possibilities of ending the current political deadlock in Nepal.

On his arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport, Saran told reporters that his two-day visit is aimed at discussing the support India could extend in finding a consensus among the parties and keeping the peace process on track . He said he would meet the key leaders of the seven parties.

He is visiting Kathmandu amid controversy triggered by the remarks of Major General (retired) Ashok Mehta in an interview with the BBC Nepali Service that the Indian Army would help the Nepal Army if the Maoists launch an armed attack in Kathmandu.

The Indian External Affairs Ministry was quick to disown Major General (retired) Mehta's views, saying they were his personal views and didn’t represent the position of the Government of India.

"They do not in any shape or form represent views of the Government of India. He [Mehta] speaks purely for himself," Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon told reporters in New Delhi yesterday.

Like every other member of the international community, India said it was disappointed at the suspension of Constituent Assembly elections and hoped that the upcoming special session of the interim parliament would be helpful in resolving the political deadlock. (ANI)