Insta
After Signing Transit Pact With China, Nepal’s Communist Party Regime Refuses To Participate In Military Drill In India
Swarajya Staff
Sep 09, 2018, 03:02 PM | Updated 03:02 PM IST
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
Nepal’s Communist Party-led government, which is seen as being close to China, has refused to send a delegation of the country’s military to participate in the BIMSTEC exercise to be held in India, The Hindu reports.
BIMSTEC, or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, is a grouping with seven member countries - Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal. The exercise, to be held in Pune between 10 and 16 September, will be the first BIMSTEC drill.
According to reports in local media, the order regarding Nepal’s participation came directly from Nepal’s Prime Minister K P Oli. Nepal’s national defence force, which was all set to send a platoon size delegation to participate in the drill, will now be represented at the event by three observers.
The proposal for the drill came from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had travelled to Nepal last week to take part in the 4th BIMSTEC summit.
Nepal’s foreign minister has confirmed that the country’s military will not take part in the drill. Talking about India’s initiative to hold the drill, he said, “India was free to float the agenda, but we did not endorse it”.
This move comes just days after Nepal signed a transit pact with China which will give the Himalayan country access the former’s seaports, giving it an alternative to counter its dependence on India. However, with China’s nearest seaport being over 3,000 kilometres from Nepal’s border and across the Tibetan plateau, this alternative is likely to remain limited to papers for the foreseeable future.
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.