Addressing a roundtable discussion at Observer Research Foundation here on Tuesday, Deuba said “Nepal is in a crucial phase of democratic transition and the government and the political parties are working hard to ensure that the Constituent Assembly-cum-Parliamentary elections are held by November this year.”

He also sought “India’s support in encouraging the Maoists to adopt peaceful means in politics for now and forever”.

Saying that he is confident of the Nepali Congress heading the next government, Deuba also stressed on the need to develop “a joint approach” to exploit the huge hydro power potential of the country. He said Nepal has the potential of generating over 100,000 megawatts of power.

He said “development of water resources for mutual benefit is a key area of priority.” He noted that it was during his tenure in 1996 that the historic Mahakali treaty and a trade treaty were signed.

The former Nepali Prime Minister said the joint work on the utilisation of water resources would also help in irrigation, flood control and mitigating climate change challenges that our region will be facing in the near future.

Deuba said Nepal wants to participate in the exemplary progress of India and creating “synergy between Nepal’s resources and India’s capital, knowledge and technology” would be a good idea to achieve goals of economic transformation for both the countries.

Inviting Indian private sector to invest in Nepal, Deuba said Nepal would work towards improving the investment scenario after the elections, learning from India’s economic growth since the end of licence raj.

The other possible sectors for joint work, the Nepali leader said, are tourism, developing new road networks and upgrading the existing ones and harnessing knowledge economy.