Nepal’s Oli to balance China and India as PM

Crash kills 2 Indian pilots

KATHMANDU, Feb 15, (Agencies): Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on Thursday appointed moderate communist K.P. Sharma Oli, who led an alliance with former Maoist rebels to a sweeping victory in recent elections, as prime minister. A presidential spokesman said Oli, who spent 14 years in jail for opposing the now-abolished monarchy in the 1970s and 1980s, was named prime minister hours after Sher Bahadur Deuba, whose party suffered a landslide defeat in the polls, resigned.

Oli’s leftwing alliance is considered to be closer to China while outging leader Deuba is widely seen as being closer to India.

The two Asian giants have poured aid and investment to woo Nepal, home to Mount Everest, as a geo-political ally. “Oli is going to be pragmatic as prime minister to balance India and China,” said Kunda Dixit, editor of the weekly Nepali Times.

Oli

Afghan attacks, blast kill 10:

Attacks blamed on the Taleban in northern and western Afghanistan killed at least 10 members of the country’s security forces, officials said Thursday, while a land mine explosion in western Herat province killed two children.

In western Farah province, police commander Abdul Razaq Alkhani said a Taleban attack killed seven policemen on Wednesday night.

The Taleban hit a police post in Bala Buluk district and the hours-long fighting also killed three insurgent before the Taleban were pushed back, Alkhani said.

In northern Faryab province, Karim Yuresh, spokesman for the provincial police chief, said a Taleban attack killed three policemen in Qaysar district, also on Wednesday night.

Ten Taleban insurgents were also killed in the ensuing gunbattle, he added.

2 Indian pilots killed in crash:

The Indian Air Force said two of its pilots were killed Thursday after their plane crashed in a remote northeastern state.

The microlight plane crashed soon taking off for a routine sortie from Johrat airbase in Assam state.

An air force official said the pilots attempted an emergency landing but the plane crashed and burst into flames.

“Both the pilots died in the crash and a court of enquiry has been ordered,” the official told AFP.

It was not immediately clear what caused the twoseater to crash, but accidents are not uncommon.