The Hindu newspaper, quoting an unnamed senior Indian official, said New Delhi would deliver a consignment of arms to the Royal Nepalese Army "very soon".

New Delhi's reported change in stance came after a meeting between the Nepalese king and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the Asia-Africa summit in Jakarta on Saturday.

The king, for his part, told Singh that democracy would be restored "sooner than later" in Nepal, the Hindu reported.

The Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency quoted Singh as telling the king that he would "look at this (request) from the proper perspective".

India had sharply criticised Gyanendra for sacking the government and suspending civil liberties in a move the monarch said was needed because squabbling political parties were unable to end a raging Maoist insurgency that has claimed more than 11,000 lives since 1996.

Britain also suspended military aid to Nepal while the United States has threatened to follow suit.

New Delhi has been pushing for the restoration of democracy and the release of political prisoners taken into custody after Gyanendra's assumption of absolute power.

The meeting between Gyanendra and Singh, the first since the takeover, followed talks between the monarch and the Indian foreign Minister Natwar Singh on Friday.

Most Indian newspapers Sunday noted a change in India's policy towards the royal coup in Nepal with the Hindustan Times describing the meeting between Gyanendra and Singh as a "climbdown" on India's part.

Reacting sharply to the reports, a key ally of India's coalition government, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said Sunday that any planned resumption of arms sales would be "wrong and unjustified," PTI reported.

"There should be no question of resuming arms supplies to a despotic king who suppressed the elementary democratic rights of the people.

"The appreciation and goodwill it (India) earned with its firm stand in defence of democracy and popular government in Nepal will disappear and it will be held responsible for abetting (the) king's authoritarianism," it said, quoting a party statement.

The Congress Party-led government needs the 61 votes of the various communist parties in the 545-seat lower house, or Lok Sabha, to remain in power. The communists support the government, which is due to complete a year in office on May 22, from outside of the cabinet. (AFP, PTI)