NEPAL REQUESTS EXCESS DEFENSE ARTICLES

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 000210 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/30/2017 TAGS: PREL MASS NP SUBJECT: NEPAL REQUESTS EXCESS DEFENSE ARTICLES REF: A. KATHMANDU 92 ¶B. AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Nicholas J. Dean. Reasons 1.4 ( b/d). Excess Defense Articles Requested -------------- ¶1. (C) On January 25, Post received a letter from Under Secretary for Planning and Procurement Shiva Thapa of the SIPDIS Ministry of Defense requesting delivery to NEPAL of all its excess defense articles (EDA). In a conversation with the Office of Defense Cooperation Chief the same day, Secretary of Defense Bishnu Datta Upreti requested delivery of all non-lethal items, including night vision goggles, generators, etc., in addition to EDA. The Prime Minister's Security Advisor, Ramesh Jung Thapa, confirmed on January 26 that the Government of NEPAL was requesting delivery of all non-lethal items. ¶2. (C) Text of letter: 25 January 2007 Department of the Army Office of Defense Cooperation American Embassy Panipokhari Kathmandu Dear Sir/Madam, This is in reference with the letter dated January 11, 2007 U-034-07 addressed to the secretary of this ministry as regard to the excess defense articles (EDAS). We would appreciate if you could start bringing the EDAS except the lethal items from the itemized locations as per the listings you have already provided to us. Thank you in advance for your kind understanding and cooperation. With my warm regards. Sincerely yours, //s// Shiva K. Thapa Under Secretary End text of letter. Comment -------------- ¶3. (C) After months of equivocating by the Government of Nepal, the Defense Ministry has finally given us a clear answer on EDA and other non-lethal equipment. It is up to the Nepali Government now to make the necessary arrangements with its freight forwarder. With Maoist entry into an interim government imminent, the sooner the Government acts the better. MORIARTY