Bush spoke to Beijing about military supplies to Nepal: Report
A leading Indian newspaper has reported that US President, George W. Bush, raised the issue of Chinese military assistance to Nepal during his recent visit to Beijing.
In its online edition on Wednesday, Indian Express newspaper said while India and the US have taken a serious note of the Chinese supplies, even a political leader of Nepal, CPN (UML) general secretary Madhav Nepal has gone public asking Beijing to resist from arming the royal government.
The newspaper, however, neither mentioned its source nor provided details of reported talks between President Bush and his Chinese counterpart on Nepal.
The daily quoted reports as saying that China supplied 4.2 million rounds of 7.62 mm rifle ammunition, 80,000 high explosive grenades and 12,000 AK-series rifles to Nepal last week. Beijing has gone ahead with the supplies despite Washington and New Delhi urging it not to fish in troubled waters, the newspaper report said.
Nepali officials have acknowledged that they have received 18 truckloads of ‘non-lethal’ arms and ammunition from China. They did not provide details.
The supply of arms and ammunition by China to the royal government of Nepal is going to find an echo in the Indo-Nepal Transit Treaty meeting this week, with New Delhi deciding to convey to Kathmandu that the bilateral document may come under review if its security concerns are not considered. The Indian government is to tell Kathmandu that it may review the bilateral transit treaty “if its security concerns were not addressed,” the news report said.
The meeting to review the bilateral transit treaty is due to take place in Kathmandu on December 2-3. The Indian delegation will be led by M V P C Sastry, Joint Secretary (Commerce), and Pankaj Saran, Joint Secretary (North). Saran handles Nepal in the Ministry of External Affairs, according to the daily.
Though South Block is tight-lipped on the issue, sources say that New Delhi will bluntly convey to Nepal that if it allows access to China or Pakistan, which has also shown interest in supply of arms, into southern Nepal then India will be forced to take steps to protect its interests. This seems diplomatese for India rationalising the transit points and enforcing use of travel documents for those going to Nepal, the news report added.
The Indo-Nepal Transit Treaty was signed in January 1999. The treaty allows trade into Nepal through 15 designated transit points. Besides the designated points, New Delhi liberally allows other routes for transiting goods into Nepal. The treaty comes up for automatic review every seven years.
Given the close relationship with Nepal, New Delhi is still hesitant to use the economic levers against the royal government, but the arms supply from China has sounded alarm bells not only in the External Affairs Ministry but also in the Defence Ministry. In fact, it is the Indian Army that has for sometime been advocating a softer line towards Nepal, the news report said.
There has been no comments from Nepali authorities regarding latest developments in neighbouring capitals.
India had imposed unilateral trade embargo in 1988-89 after the Nepal imported arms and ammunition from China. The Indian decision coincided with a peaceful pro-democracy movement that culminated in 1990 into the end of three-decade-long direct rule of the king. nepalnews.com by Nov 30 05
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