According to the cable sent by then US Ambassador to Nepal James F Moriarty to Washington, then Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukharjee, who is now the Finance Minister and looks after Nepal affairs in the Indian cabinet, had conveyed New Delhi´s official position on integration of Maoist combatants during his meeting with then CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal on June 6, 2006. [break]
“... Foreign Minister Mukherjee had been categorical in his discussion with MK [Madhav Kumar Nepal] that the Maoists should not be integrated into the Nepal Army,” said the cable sent to Washington by then US Ambassador Moriarty.
Moriarty had sent the cable to Washington on the basis of his conversation with then Indian Ambassador to Nepal Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, who was present during the meeting between Minister Mukherjee and Nepal.
Another US cable said that India was not happy with US´ growing activities and assistance to the Nepal Army during the conflict time.
“I was more than a little annoyed to find out, however, that the Indian embassy had complained to the PM´s office about our training activities with the Nepal Army,” Moriarty said in the cable.
Another cable about conversation between then US Ambassador Michael E Malinowski and Indian Ambassador Shyam Saran said India did not want to see the US government providing conventional military hardware to Nepal.
“The government of India believes it can provide most of Nepal´s requirements for conventional military equipment and looks the US government to provide “high-tech” equipment,” the cable quoted Saran as saying to Malinowskim in 2004.
Then the US ambassador had replied to Saran that the US government was reviewing the possibility of providing refurbished Bell helicopters to the Nepal Army to fight Maoists.
The cables can be accessed here.
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