India again tries

Himalayan Daily Ramblings

India again tries, fails to restrict Nepal’s arms purchases from third countries

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 26 Jan: India again tried and failed to restrict Nepal’s purchases of arms and ammunition from third countries at a security meeting in New Delhi.
India presented Nepal with a and Nepal walked out of the meeting without signing its minutes.
This is not the first time India has made such an attempt.
India proposed at the meeting Nepal should purchase arms and ammunition only from India; purchases from other countries should be executed only with Indian approval, Jandesh reported in its Saturday editions quoting an unidentified member of the Nepali team to the talks.
A inconclusive three-day bilateral security meet began 21 January.
“India presented an interventionist proposal that would directly affect the country’s pride and sovereignty. Later, there was no agreement,” a delegation member who preferred anonymity said.
The team consisted of army, police and civilian officials.
The 12-member Nepali delegation was led by joint secretary in the foreign ministry Suresh Pradhan.
India’s Rajib Gandhi government slapped a 17-month trade embargo 1989 after Nepal purchased arms and ammunition, including anti-aircraft guns from China.
USA, during the first tenure of President George W Bush, trained a special forces unit and sold M-16 rifles to replace obsolete Indian SLRs during the Maoist insurgency; India wasn’t happy with US sales and Nepalese purchases.
Military assistance was stopped after the king slapped direct rule on 1 February 2005.
During the royal regime, Washington lobbied with India and UK to stifle the Royal Nepalese Army by urging countries like Russia, Pakistan and China not to sell weapons to Nepal even as it was fighting a Maoist insurgency.
USA worked to deny arms to a country it supplied arms to fight the communist rebellion.
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Nepal sells dollars to India for purchases

Kathmandu, 26 Jan: Nepal sold India $ 550 million equivalent to Rs 35.08 billion to finance imports from the southern neighbour in the first five month of 2007, Nepal Rashtra Bank said
Nepal is increasing its sale of the greenback to import purchases mainly financed though Indian rupee payment.
In the same period the previous year, Nepal sold India $320 million equivalent to Rs 23.39 billion to finance Indian imports.
Imports from India are increasing every year while exports are dwindling.
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