Picture Bidya Devi Bhandari
TNN 22 July 2009
NEW DELHI: Eager to counter China's strategic inroads into Nepal, India has promised to bolster defence cooperation with the Himalayan country,
including resumption of arms supplies which had run into rough weather in recent times.
This came after visiting Nepal defence minister Bidya Devi Bhandari, leading a 10-member delegation, held talks with her Indian counterpart A K Antony and other top military brass on Tuesday.
The recruitment of Nepalis in Indian Army's Gorkha Rifles also figured in the talks. The earlier strife engulfing Nepal ensured no recruitment rallies were held for the purpose since September 2006.
It was only in February-March this year that the Indian Army once again began the process, with rallies in Dharan (eastern Nepal) and Pokhara (central Nepal), attracting over 15,000 applicants.
There are over 30,000 Nepali Gorkhas currently serving in Indian Army's seven Gorkha Rifles (Ist, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th and 11th), each of which has five to six battalions, and some paramilitary forces.
India, of course, had been caught off-balance after the Maoists emerged victorious in Nepal's constituent assembly elections and Pushpa Kamal Dahal `Prachanda' was sworn in as the PM last year.
With the Maoists tilting clearly towards China, India had to then scramble to engage them in `a constructive manner'. The situation, of course, is yet to settle down fully in Kathmandu following Prachanda's resignation after failing to sack Nepal Army chief General Rookmangud Katawal in a power struggle with President Ram Baran Yadav.
No comments:
Post a Comment