Arms deal wrong move: Experts

KATHMANDU: Experts today said that the government’s arms deal with India was a wrong move carried out at the wrong time.

Conflict expert Dr Bishnu Raj Upreti, speaking at a programme on ‘consequences of arms deal with India’ organised by the Jana Sanchar Abhiyan here in the Capital, said that it was a time to strengthen internal security by forging consensus between all the political actors.

“The government instead should zero in on internal issues like the current outbreak of diarrhoea and drafting of the new constitution,” he said.

Dr Upreti was of the opinion that the government should strike the arms deal only after a consensus between all the parties and only if the defence ministry needed weapons.

He further said the situation would become more and more complex if the ongoing “tit-for-tat” tendency between the political parties continued. “Political parties should come out of such practice for ensuring that the peace process reaches to its logical conclusion,” he added.

He also expressed fear as the Nepali Army, which was becoming stronger at the recent times, might be involved in any high-handedness. He, however, did not divulge what he was referring to.

UCPN-Maoist CA member, Indra Jit Rai, who is also a member of the technical committee under the Army Integration Special Committee, claimed that the Comprehensive Peace Accord had prohibited the government to even let army personnel out of their respective camps, let alone the purchase of arms.

“Purchasing the arms will further empower the Nepali Army which is also detrimental to the NC and UML in the coming days,” he said.