Kathmandu, Jan 20 (IANS) India on Tuesday handed over more than 60 double-cab pickup vehicles and other supplies to Nepal to help prepare for the elections scheduled for March 5.
This marks the first tranche of election-related assistance from India, handed over to Nepal’s Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal at a formal ceremony, the Indian Embassy said in a statement on Tuesday. The Indian government will provide around 650 vehicles for the upcoming elections, which will be delivered in separate batches over the next few weeks, according to the embassy.
Charge d’Affaires of the Indian Embassy in Nepal, Dr. Rakesh Pandey, handed over the vehicles on Tuesday. The vehicles are part of the assistance requested by the Nepali government in connection with preparations for the upcoming elections, the embassy said.
During the handover ceremony, Minister Aryal thanked the government and people of India for the gifted vehicles and supplies. He also appreciated the deep and comprehensive nature of ties between India and Nepal.
Based on requests from the Nepali government, the southern neighbour has been providing election-related support to Nepal since 2008, when the first Constituent Assembly elections were held in the Himalayan nation.
According to the embassy, the Indian government has gifted as many as 2,400 vehicles to various ministries and departments of the Nepali government and the Election Commission.
“The ongoing cooperation and support from the Indian side is not only an apt reflection of the multi-faceted and multi-sectoral development partnership that exists between the two countries,” the embassy said, “but also symbolizes the deep mutual trust and friendship between the people of India and Nepal.”
At a time when hundreds of government-owned vehicles were destroyed during the Gen-Z revolt in September last year, the delivery of vehicles by the Indian government is expected to help ease the situation for the Nepali government.
A government-formed committee tasked with assessing the damage caused during the Gen-Z protests found that as many as 8,430 government-owned vehicles were damaged.
--IANS
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