Nepal army's institutional ties with any of its counterparts anywhere in the world are guided by well-considered need of the time, reciprocity and not at the cost of the country's independence, sovereignty and the glorious values it stands for.
KATHMANDU, May 29: While taking a strong exception to the controversial writeups involving the Nepal Army in two Indian media outlets -- The Hindustan Times and tfipost.com -- vis-á-vis provocative remarks by the Indian army chief on border issues, Nepal Army (NA) has said the lengthy writeups 'woven with lies, innuendo and mischief' undermine the army as an institution and its constitutional obligation.
In a strong-worded press statement issued late night Thursday, the national army said nothing could be farther from truth than these writeups which claim that the chief of the Nepali Army General Purna Chandra Thapa refused to obey the instructions of Prime Minister to rebut the statement of Indian Army Chief Gen Manoj Mukund Navarane on the latest border disputes.
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The statement from the army came in response to a commentary titled ‘In a huge setback to Oli, Nepal’s new political map hits a Roadblock’ printed in The Hindustan Times (May 27,2020) by Shishir Gupta and 'Oli ordered Nepal Chief of Army to rebut Indian Army Chief's remarks, the Nepalese General said 'No thanks' (May 28, 2020) by Akshay Narayan published in tfipost.com."Nepal Army regrets the reckless, mischievous and irresponsible write-ups and their contents with scant respect to the truth and facts, to say the least," it said.
The national army said it does function well within the parameters of the constitution, and maintains its glorious tradition of discipline, restraint and accountability and respect toward the highest executive office in the country. "Nepal Army maintains that making unnecessary political statements or responding to loaded queries from the media is not part of its job," it further said in the statement
The army also clarified that Nepal army's institutional ties with any of its counterparts anywhere in the world are guided by well-considered need of the time, reciprocity and not at the cost of the country's independence, sovereignty and the glorious values it stands for.
The Nepali and the Indian armies traditionally honour each other's chiefs by conferring the Honorary Rank of General in view of the close military ties shared by the two neighbours since decades. The remarks of the Nepali army comes in the wake of a section of people demanding that this tradition be scrapped, especially after Indian Army Chief Navarane made remarks that sought to undermine sovereign Nepal's capacity to make its own decision.
Although military relations between Nepal and India stand very tall, they have started faltering especially after 2015, when India enforced an economic blockade against Nepal. It was then Nepal Army Chief Rajendra Chhetri and his Indian counterpart Dalbir Singh Suhag who rescued the bilateral relations, according to army insiders.
Indian army chief Naravane on May 15 had suggested that Nepal had raised the issue of Kalapani 'at the behest of someone else', alluding to China. Although there was public pressure on the army to make a public statement, it refrained from making comments, saying that it was not the army, but the country's political leadership to make any such comments.
Nepal Army has urged all readers and media not to give any credence to the content of these controversial pieces that intend to undermine the army as an institution and its constitutional obligation. "We have the Ministry of Defense of the Government of Nepal as well as the Directorate of Nepali Army for disseminating authentic information as and when required," the army said, hinting clearly that the controversial statement coming from Indian army chief was unwarranted and uncalled for.
