March 12, 2005 ☼ Foreign Affairs
This is an archived blog post from The Acorn.
Pakistan’s ambassador to Nepal has reiterated his prime minister’s offer of military assistance to King Gyanendra’s army. Apart from arms, Pakistan has offered to share its ‘high-tech expertise’ in dealing with terrorists.
As Blogdai writes, Pakistan cannot send arms to Nepal without Chinese approval and support. Pakistan will not only serve as a ‘delivery boy’ for Chinese arms but also provide Beijing with sufficient diplomatic cover, lending plausible deniability to its involvement in Nepal.
India must immediately send a strong signal to Pakistan (and indirectly to China) that it will not tolerate their interference in Nepal. Pakistani or Chinese support for King Gyanendra’s army is not only against the international consensus on Nepal, it is a dangerously escalatory move that is not at all consistent with attempts to build confidence between India and Pakistan.
Update: News Insight has details
At Nepal’s request, Pakistan will sell three hundred rocket launchers and two thousand automatic grenade launchers (AGLs) from its own army stocks for anti-Maoist operations.
Nepal wanted in all eight items, including rocket launchers and AGLs, on credit, but Pakistan has insisted on a forty per cent down payment to cover manufacturing costs, with the remaining made at Nepal’s convenience.
Diplomatic sources said that Pandey gave his request to Pakistan foreign minister Mehmud Ahmed Kasuri, who readily agreed to aid a “small neighbour†facing a “major crisisâ€, and Pakistan has assured it will fly in the weapons free. [News Insight]
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