United Nations, March 6 (IANS) A top UN official will visit India and Nepal next week to discuss regional and international issues with officials and political parties in both the countries.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe will be in India March 9 to hold discussions with government officials on a range of regional and international issues, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said Friday.

Pascoe will travel to Nepal from March 10-12, Nesirky told reporters.

He will visit the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) and hold meetings with senior officials and political party leaders to discuss the peace process in the Himalayan nation, Xinhua reported

The Nepal visit comes as the peace process that ended the country's 10-year civil war remains largely stalled, threatened by tensions and mistrust between Maoists, the government and the army, the spokesman said.

In his report to the Security-Council in January, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the political positions of these groups has 'hardened at the opposing ends of the political spectrum, which has seriously eroded the common middle ground that had, from the outset, defined the peace process and remained its driving strength'.