India will provide Rs 18.7 crore in military assistance to Nepal to increase the capabilities of the Royal Nepalese Army, Army Chief General Nirmal Chandra Vij said on Friday.
A consignment of weapons amounting to Rs 62.50 crore is also in the pipeline, the visiting army chief said while addressing a function organised by the ex-Gorkha servicemen at the Indian Pension Paying Office in Pokhara in west Nepal on Thursday.
Saying that India will continue its support to the Nepal Army in its anti-terror campaign, General Vij said it is prepared to provide any type of assistance to establish peace in Nepal. "It is the wish of the Indian people to see stability and peace in Nepal," he said adding, "if there is no peace, it will be no good for the ex-Gorkhas also."
General Vij also announced a Rs 10 crore package to for drinking water projects in 927 villages inhabited by ex-Gorkhas in Nepal.
India annually distributes about Rs 400 crore in pension to the 115,000 Gorkha ex-servicemen in Nepal through the Pension Paying Offices in Kathmandu, Dharan and Pokhara. At present over 40,000 Gorkhas are serving in the Indian Army
The Indian Army Chief later visited the Pension Paying Office in Dharan in eastern Nepal, where he interacted with the ex-Gorkha servicemen.
General Vij also visited the Mt Everest base camp at an elevation of 5,450 meter above sea level in Solukhumbu district and interacted with members of the Indo-Nepal Joint Expeditions to Mt Everest and Lhotse.
A joint expedition comprising Indian and Nepalese Army personnel is heading towards the world's highest peak Everest and Lhotse coinciding with the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the first human ascent to the Everest towards May end.
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