The Nepal Army has withdrawn from the first BIMSTEC military exercise to be held in India following a political row in the country over the participation in the event.
The Nepal Army will not participate in the first ever joint military exercise of BIMSTEC nations in India next week, an aide of Prime Minister KP Oli said on Saturday, amid reports that the political parties in the country have expressed concern over the drill.
The proposal for the joint military drill was first forwarded by the Indian Army in June, followed by an initial meeting of BIMSTEC senior army officials in New Delhi.
Kundan Aryal, press advisor to Oli, told PTI that Nepal will not to join the week-long joint military drill to be held in Pune from September 10.
"Nepal will not take part in the BIMSTEC joint military exercise. This is the official decision of the government," he said.
Aryal, however, did not give any details but indicated that the concerned ministry may issue a formal statement soon.
The government's decision came after strong criticism from different quarters, including influential leaders from ruling Nepal Communist Party.
Earlier, Kathmandu Post reported that the Nepal Army had withdrawn from the first BIMSTEC military exercise following a political row in the country. The decision to participate in the drill had come after strong criticism from different quarters, including influential leaders from the ruling Nepal Communist Party.
Cross-party leaders in Nepal had raised their concerns against the exercise after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his address at fourth BIMSTEC summit in Kathmandu last week, welcomed Nepal's presence in the drill.
Following the controversy, Oli asked the national defence force not to participate in the drill, compelling the Nepal Army's leadership to rollback its earlier decision to take part in the first ever military exercise of the regional grouping initiated by India.
"There is no point in our Army Chief participating in the exercise which our government hasn't approved," Minister for Law and Justice Bhanu Bhakta Dahal told the Post.
The decision was taken just a day before the Army squad was set to travel to Pune, where the drill will commence on Monday.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional grouping comprising Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.
The armies from all seven members states had agreed to send a 30-member squad for the six-day exercise. The event was dragged into controversy as no diplomatic or political level agreement was made before deciding to take part in the exercise.
Experts are also objecting to the drill saying there is no advantage to Nepal.
A senior Army official said even though they had not received a formal directive, the 30-member squad had been stopped from departing.
Three Army officials who had already travelled to Pune to help plan the conference will also be returning soon, the Army officer said.
(With PTI inputs)
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