Kathmandu: In a bid to iron out differences, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on Saturday met a top Nepal Maoist leader who has slammed him for inking a crucial trade pact with India during his landmark visit to New Delhi recently.

Bhattarai also discussed ways to push forward the stalled peace process and the integration of the former Maoists combatants with senior vice chairman Mohan Vaidya "Kiran", the hardline leader who has accused the party leadership of making compromise by handing over of the keys of containers holding the arms of the guerrillas to the Army Integration Special Committee, a panel set up to oversee the peace process.

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Vaidya has also attacked Bhattarai for signing the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) with New Delhi during his four-day India visit last week. The hardline leader has demanded that the ruling Maoist party scrap the treaty which he claimed is not in national interest.

During the meeting at Vaidya`s residence in Kathmandu, Bhattarai tried to convince him on starting the integration process of the former PLA guerrillas at the earliest. He also explained his position on BIPPA, nepalnews, the online Nepali newspaper, quoted a source as saying today.

Bhattarai sought Vaidya`s cooperation and pledged to bring the issues to the party for deliberation, the report said.

The Prime Minister has defended the BIPPA as it would boost trade by guarantying security of foreign investment and help Nepal overcome its trade deficit with India. One of the key sticking points in the stalled 2006 peace process has been the proposed integration of 19,000 former Maoist rebels into the army, with the main opposition Nepali Congress resisting their en masse integration.

PTI