A Nepali delegation led by Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) Kali Prasad Pokharel had officially requested India to resume the supply of arms and ammunition that has been put on hold since 2006 during the tenth meeting of India-Nepal Bilateral Consultative Group on Security Issues held recently in Bengaluru, India. “We put forth the issue during our meeting. The Indian side has assured that they will positively respond to our request,” said a member of the Nepali delegation, asking not to be named.[break]
The national army wasn´t allowed to procure lethal weapons after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in November 21, 2006. The major parties had then agreed to stop procurement of arms and ammunition for the national army until the Maoist combatants were integrated into the national army.
The request by the Nepali delegation came in the wake of the NA complaining that it was running short of arms and ammunition even for its regular use including in trainings and development activities that required explosives and other logistics. “The Indian side will resume the supply as per the requests forwarded by the Nepal Army,” the member further said.
With the management of cantoned Maoist combatants coming to an end on Friday, the government had also decided separately to allow the national army to procure arms and ammunition for its regular use. The NA has had to face serious problem as the army integration process took several years to complete.
The peace process was originally supposed to conclude within six months after the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections in 2008. The army was disallowed from purchasing bullets, explosives and other lethal weapons for nearly seven years now.
According to a press statement issued by the Nepalese Embassy in New Delhi, the meeting held on Tuesday and Wednesday had dwelt on overall cooperation between Nepal and India in the areas of defense and security. “The meeting focused on military training, supplies for defence stores including logistics, enhancement of medical capability and intelligence sharing. The meeting also reviewed the progress made on the decisions taken in earlier meetings and agreed to expedite their implementation,” said the statement.
The delegation from India was led by Joint Secretary (North) Akhilesh Mishra in the meeting. The members from both the delegation comprised of high-ranking officials including from security agencies. Among other things, issues related to military training and military hardware assistance and exchange of intelligence information on a real time basis also figured during the two-day meeting.
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