A three-member American defence team is reportedly in Kathmandu presently assessing the requirements of the Royal Nepal Army for fighting Maoist insurgency.
NEW DELHI: In what could cause a serious setback to efforts by India and others to restore democracy in Nepal, the US is moving quickly to restore military supplies to the Himalayan kingdom. An angry India is believed to have conveyed its displeasure to the US.
Authoritative sources in the government told DNA that a three-member American defence team is in Kathmandu presently assessing the requirements of the Royal Nepal Army for fighting Maoist insurgency. A senior official here said the “US is set on restoring military supplies to Nepal.”
When contacted, the official spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs refused to comment on the developments. India and the US have recently begun to drastically differ over Nepal, especially on Maoists. The difference flows out of American view of Maoists as terrorists and India's belief that the Nepali Maoists must be brought to the mainstream and should not be treated just as terrorists.
The US ambassador to Nepal, James F Moriarty, has been at the forefront advocating the US policy, which is appeasing the beleaguered King Gyanendra. The US administration has been critical of efforts to engage Maoists, especially the 12-point agreement between the seven parties and Maoists reached in November last year.
Indian sources now say that the visit of the Pentagon team is taking the US policy a step closer to .resuming military supplies, “which would embolden the monarch and would be a serious setback to our efforts to restore democracy,” says a senior official.
“What do you gain by giving material to the Royal Nepal Army? Some more people would be killed and then the Americans will go home,” says Deb Mukherjee, former Indian ambassador to Nepal. “It will not solve the Nepal problem.”
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