Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was Tuesday warned by Opposition leaders to resist any pressure by India when the premier visits its neighbour this week.
Deuba briefed Opposition parties, along with Nepal's former foreign ministers and ambassadors to New Delhi, ahead of his four-day visit that begins on Wednesday, during which Nepal's bloody Maoist insurgency will be high on the agenda.
The Opposition parties, led by the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist and Leninist, warned Deuba not to be compelled into signing agreements with India because of the current tension, political sources said.
India is Nepal's key economic partner and chief military supplier. Kathmandu is expected to ask New Delhi for more arms to battle the Maoists, who launched their biggest offensive yet last month.
Many Nepalese resent India's perceived heavy hand in the kingdom, particularly the continued presence of Indian troops in the far northwestern Kalapani district dating from the 1962 war between India and China.
Opposition parties have called on Deuba to press India harder to remove its troops from the area.
Deuba told the Opposition members he would work during his trip to make the 1950 Indo-Nepal Peace and Friendship Treaty, which gives India major leverage in the kingdom, "relevant to the changed times."
He also said that he would "speed up the work on regulating the Indo-Nepal border and resolving our mutual differences over issues, including Kalapani."
Nepalese officials have alleged the Maoists, who have been fighting to topple the constitutional monarchy since February 1996, have support networks across the border in Bihar.
But Deuba defended his trip to India, citing the crackdown his government launched on the Maoists after the rebels broke a four-month ceasefire in November.
"In view of the crisis faced by Nepal in dealing with the Maoist terrorists under the state of emergency, my visit could be fruitful if it builds India's friendly feelings towards us," Deuba said.
Opposition parties also complained that Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee should have visited Nepal instead of Deuba travelling to India, as the last state visit between the two countries also took place in New Delhi.
Deuba told the Opposition that his talks in India would also focus on bilateral trade and flooding in Nepal blamed on a dam across the border in India. Bureau Report