Chinese army chief meets CoAS Gurung; announces Rs 1.42 billion aid to NA

Chinese of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), General Chen Bingde, arrived in Kathmandu Wednesday afternoon leading a 15-member military delegation. He is on a three-day "goodwill visit" of Nepal at the invitation of Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Chhatraman Singh Gurung.

Nepal Army (NA) Major General Toran Jung Bahadur Singh received General Bingde's delegation at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Kathmandu at 3.15 pm. The Chinese delegation arrived in Kathmandu by a special chartered flight.

General Bingde received a guard of honour from NA at TIA following his arrival.
Chief of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), General Chen Bingde (Left) meets his Nepali counterpart General Chhatraman Singh Gurung at the Nepal Army headquarters on Wednesday, 23 March 2011. nepalnews.com (Photo courtesy: Directorate of Public Relations of Nepal Army)
Chief of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), General Chen Bingde...

Meanwhile, the Chinese army chief met NA chief Gurung at the NA headquarters, Bhadrakali.

On the occasion, General Bingde and CoAS Gurung signed an agreement of the Chinese government assistance worth Rs 1.42 billion (RMB Yuan 130 million) to the NA.

As per the agreement, Chinese government will provide equipments for Birendra Army Hospital and rescue operations of the NA worth 100 Yan and engineering equipments worth 30 Yuan.

General Gurung signed the aid agreement on behalf of the Defense Ministry of the Government of Nepal, according to the Directorate of Public Relations (DPR) of the NA.

During his stay here, the Chinese army chief is also scheduled to meet President Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal and defense minister Bishnu Paudel among other high level officials during his trip.

The visit by the Chinese army chief is one of the highest military visits from China in a decade, and particularly the timing of the visit has been seen by observers as highly symbolic. nepalnews.com