NEW DELHI, KATHMANDU, APRIL 18: With tensions rising in Nepal and economic indicators worsening, India today decided to send senior Congress leader Karan Singh on Wednesday as a special envoy, carrying a message from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for King Gyanendra.

The message from the PM, while expressing concern, is expected to emphasise the need for the King to immediately respond given the public outrage and protests being backed by the seven-parties political alliance. This could also open up opportunities for negotiations with the Maoists, who are a major security challenge for the monarch.

The Prime Minister, in his message, will make it clear that while India does not have any intention of intervening in the domestic issues of its neighbouring countries, it was extremely concerned by the developments in Nepal.

Karan Singh, related to the monarch through his wife, told The Indian Express that he did know Gyanendra “tremendously well” but had met him a couple of years ago. “I knew his father well... but I will give it a shot because the situation is getting dangerous and deteriorating fast.”

While Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran will be joining him from Bhutan tomorrow, Singh said he will hold a one-on-one meeting with the King and personally hand him over a message from the PM. “Some steps need to be taken... the institution of democracy needs to be restored.”

Singh also gave examples of other monarchs across the world, including the Bhutan King who has voluntarily taken steps towards democracy.

That Gyanendra does not have much time to decide was made clear by US Ambassador James Moriarty in Kathmandu. In an interview, Moriarty did some plainspeak, saying nobody wanted a situation where the King would have to cling to the wheel of a helicopter and flee.

Moriarty too had advised the King that power should be irreversibly handed over to the political parties who would be responsible for finding a solution to the Maoist problem.