India, Nepal To Sign Major Arms Deal

[godofwar]

India and Nepal are expected to close a massive military deal, including the supply of lethal weapons for the first time in nine years, when officials from both countries meet in Kathmandu next week.

The 11th Nepal-India Bilateral Consultative Group on Security Issues is set to take place in Kathmandu on June 8 and 9, where joint secretaries from respective Foreign Ministries will take a call on NA’s request for the supply of military stores and equipment.

“The meeting is expected to discuss the procurement of military equipment for trainings, joint exercises, counter-terrorism action, information sharing between the two armies, the NA said in a statement.The NA in 2013 had requested India for an immediate supply of arms valued at NRs 1.76 billion.

According to local media reports, the NA is seeking to purchase more than 26,000 weapons of various kinds including several thousand Indian-made Insas rifles; more than 11 million rounds of ammunitions; bomb disposal equipment and explosives for training purpose.

Also on the NA shopping list are landmines, detonators, safety fuses and time pencils.

Nepal, last year, began taking delivery of non-lethal military supplies from India after the successful integration of former Maoist combatants into the NA. New Delhi has imposed an arms ban in 2005 after former Hing Gyanendra Shah took over executive powers and restricted democratic and civil liberties.

India will be providing some of the weapons in grant, while some will be on loan after a down payment of 60 percent, NA spokesperson Brig Gen Jagadish Pokharel was quoted as saying by Ekantipur.com. He also said the NA is procuring new weapons to replace the current models, which are mostly outdated, for military trainings and joint exercises.

the NA had received several hundred vehicles including 35 armoured, 216 light and 154 heavy vehicles.Among the vehicles were 58 trucks with a capacity of 7.5 tonnes.

India, Nepal To Sign Major Arms Deal Including Insas Rifles Contract

 

[Indo-guy]

Great going !
It's absolutely exhilarating to hear positive news almost on daily basis ever since Modi government took office .

It is very important to deepen our ties with Nepal and Bhutan to negate Chinese influence .

This arms deal will do the trick to some extent .

 

[Ajaysingh]

India should help nepal in all possible means

 

[sancho]

Great going !
It's absolutely exhilarating to hear positive news almost on daily basis ever since Modi government took office

Yes, because this was just negotiated and fixed in the last 2 weeks, oh wait...:

The NA in 2013 had requested India for an immediate supply of arms valued at NRs 1.76 billion.

So, this is only the result of a request that was made by them last year and was fixed in the mean time. The same will be the case if CH47, Apaches, or A330 MRTTs will be fixed now, since they were selected by UPA, the final selection however is pushed into the next FY for funding reasons, or like it is in the case of MMRCA for example, mainly by the fact that no government should fix such huge deals or take important decisions at the end of a term before the elections.
We have to differentiate between what the BJP has done (lets say after being in power for 4 to 6 month or even a year) and what is simply a result of the work of the earlier government. Also you have to look at what is just a statement (that shows that things will be fasttracked), like in the LUH competition as reported, with what the decision taken by the new government actually is (re-tendering => therefor delaying a fast decision), or have to take the campaing promises of BJP / Modi to account as well and hold them against their actions now in power (stronger stand against Pakistan earlier, no actions against them after recent border issues or the embassy attack, while inviting Pakistans PM to India today. Criticizing MMS for being silent earlier, while giving no reaction on the mentioned attacks, the recent rape cases or the killing of a muslim by hindu nationalists today...) to understand what they just promised in the elections and what they actually do in power.
It's far too early for them to have effected anything, they only started working, showing some interesting and creative first steps, but it's by far not the time to judge them, be it positive or negative. We have to see the changes and in a few month or a year, we can start to see what actually is better.

 

[indoPunjabi]

India should sign a strong defence pact with Nepal since it is our friendly neighbour country other than Bhutan.

 

[amitkriit]

Nepal was planning to replace the INSAS rifle with the American ones. What happened?

 

[Abingdonboy]

Nepal was planning to replace the INSAS rifle with the American ones. What happened?

Apparently not....

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Gurkha's alone are enough to hold off anyone.

Anyway, it's good that Nepal is taking care of its defensive needs.

 

[amitkriit]

Apparently not....

Many of those flashy "imported" infantry equipment and attachments failed miserably under Indian condition. But our arm-chair generals aren't willing to let go those cash cows.

 

[Abingdonboy]

Many of those flashy "imported" infantry equipment and attachments failed miserably under Indian condition

Such as?

 

[amitkriit]

Such as?

I will leave the details out of the discussion to be on the safer side. Most military enthusiasts can guess.

 

[Koovie]

I will leave the details out of the discussion to be on the safer side. Most military enthusiasts can guess.

Who is threatening you? The arms lobby?

Tell us, which weapon system are you talking about?

I guess the reason why Nepal chose INSAS rifles are costs and political consideration.

The INSAS rifle might be good, but there are much better options available... its still too heavy, bulky, not handy for CQB and lacks in ammo capacity. 4.15 kg for an unloaded modern assault rifle are too much.