Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Nepal's King Gyanendra met formally on Saturday for the first time since the monarch seized power two months ago, with the king describing the talks as "cordial". They met on the sidelines of the Asia-Africa summit in Jakarta, where the king is on his first foreign tour since he took power. "We had a very cordial meeting with Dr. Manmohan Singh from India," Gyanendra told reporters after the talks. "We agreed that Nepal needs to tackle the Maoist issue and at the same time also to re-energise (the) political process." Singh declined to comment on the meeting as he left the conference center where leaders and representatives of 100 countries are attending the summit. The king will travel to China on April 24 to attend an Asian economic conference at Boao, in Hainan province, and visit Singapore before returning to Kathmandu on April 29. "We believe that this will help consolidate cordial relations and understandings between Nepal and these nations," the king said in a statement before leaving on the tour.
