China agrees to sell Rs 1.6 billion worth arms to Nepal: Report
An influential Indian magazine has reported that China has recently cleared a deal worth Rs 160 crore to supply arms and ammunition to Nepal.
In its latest issue (Sep. 19, 05), India Today magazine quoted sources as saying that the deal was reportedly clinched during the visit of Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey to Beijing recently.
India is the biggest supplier of arms and ammunition to Nepal. But after the royal takeover in February this year, India, UK and the US suspended their ‘lethal’ military aid to Nepal terming the royal move as a `setback to democracy.’
“Our first source for arms was India. If they were not available from India then we have to look towards other countries,” the magazine quoted a Nepali diplomatic source as saying.
Nepali authorities haven’t commented on the news report as yet.
In the news story entitled “The Gulf Widens,” the magazine reported that Nepal’s quiet arms deal with China has sent (Indian) Foreign Office mandarins into a huddle even as they rubbish HM King Gyanendra’s suggestion that Delhi should consider replacing its ambassador to Nepal, Shiv Shankar Mukherjee.
India is trying to put pressure on the King by asking China not to fish in troubled waters. Delhi does not want Beijing to provide arms to Kathmandu. On a parallel track, India is working on a strategy to unite political parties in Nepal and mount international pressure on the King to restore democracy in the Himalayan kingdom, the news report said.
The leading newsmagazine quoted sources as saying that Delhi was aware that the Palace was not happy with Indian ambassador S. S. Mukherjee’s tough stand on providing military aid only after democracy was restored (in Nepal). “”There is a constant propaganda against our ambassador but he is acting in India’s best interests and we haven’t received any formal request for his recall,” the magazine quoted a South Block source as saying.
South Block houses Indian foreign ministry in New Delhi.
“The (Indian) envoy has articulated the assessment of the Foreign Office that the situation in Nepal is going from bad to worse….India’s Nepal policy has undergone a significant shift in the past six months. While it had earlier maintained that constitutional monarchy and multiparty democracy were the best bets for the Himalayan kingdom, it is now openly talking about an alternative to the King,” the news report said.
The magazine further said China was cosying up to Nepalese monarch, which could compromise India’s strategic foothold in the Himalayan kingdom. Some one million Nepalis have moved to India because of violence and instability, the magazine claimed.
Nepal and India have 1,880 km long common, open border between them. nepalnews.com by Sep 11 05
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