Prachanda being greeted by BJP chief Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday. (PTI)

New Delhi, Sept. 16: Leaders across the political spectrum shed differences to come together in honour of Nepal Prime Minister Prachanda who, overwhelmed by the turnout, emphasised that a “new Nepal” must start a “new era” of friendship and cooperation with an old and trusted friend, India.

Prachanda, who has held a host of meetings with officialdom and business chambers as the elected Prime Minister of a republican Nepal since Sunday, assumed his avatar as a political leader with a “revolutionary” past and revelled in interactions with non-government actors today.

In the morning, he was felicitated by a group of sympathisers — among them Indian Maoists and radical activists — where he underlined that his basic commitment to an egalitarian, prosperous and progressive Nepal had not been dimmed by the trappings of office.

“This is an emotional moment for me. Only three years ago, I was working underground with you here,” he told the Indo-Nepal People’s Solidarity Forum.

He then spoke of an “unusual experiment” now underway in Nepal which, he said, was being closely watched by communist countries.

“We are not going into parliamentary democracy. We are in search of a new democracy. The entire state is going to be re-structured.”

Nepal would develop its own model of government, which would be its contribution to the world, he said. “Ours will be a new democracy, but not the traditional new democracy.”

Prachanda then proceeded to the residence of Janata Dal(U) president Sharad Yadav who hosted a grand lunch for him under the aegis of the Nepal India Parliamentary Friendship Forum.

Gathered on the podium were leaders from India’s Right, Left and centre. CPM general secretary Prakash Karat sat beside BJP’s Murli Manohar Joshi; Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav chatted with Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel; AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh shared space with his namesake from the JD(U); Nitish Kumar had flown down specially for the occasion (to perhaps have a word with Prachanda on how to tame the Kosi).

Speaker Somnath Chatterjee left early, avoiding the awkwardness of breaking bread with Karat, who later shared a lunch table with erstwhile friends Amar and Mulayam.

Prachanda, accompanied by his wife and fellow Maoist Sita Dahal, made it clear that despite Nepal’s age-old bonds with India, the revolutionary change that had swept across the Himalayan nation would not leave untouched Nepal-India relations.

Although he did not spell it out in black and white, his meaning was clear: Indo-Nepal treaties of a previous era would have to be recast on a more equitable basis in light of the changed “world” and “regional” situation.

Repeatedly asserting the need to inject a “new dynamism” in bilateral ties, Prachanda said: “We call our country ‘naya Nepal’ today and I will tell my people that just as we have a new Nepal, we are about to start a new era in our relations with India.”