Pak no to Indian bulletproof car for Sharif at Saarc meet

NEW DELHI: Pakistan has told Nepal that PM Nawaz Sharif will not use bulletproof vehicles provided by India during the upcoming Saarc summit in Kathmandu on November 26 and 27, underlining the deterioration in ties between the neighbours.

I nstead, I slamabad t old Kathmandu it will make independent ar rangements for Sharif ’s transportation, Nepal’s foreign ministry spokesperson Khaganath Adhikari told leading daily Kantipur.

INDIA SENT 6 CARS TO NEPAL AFTER REQUEST. EXCEPT PAK, ALL OTHER SAARC LEADERS USING INDIAN VEHICLES

Delhi had sent six bulletproof vehicles to Nepal on Saturday to be used by Saarc leaders after a request by Kathmandu. Nepal PM Sushil Koirala had sought logistical support from India during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, and Maldives President Abdulla Yameen will use Indian vehicles. For Narendra Modi, India will bring separate vehicles to Kathmandu as well as to Janakpur and Lumbini, where he is scheduled to travel.

Officials in Kathmandu tried to underplay the issue, suggesting it was routine for foreign leaders to bring their own vehicles.

Nepal has two bullet-proof vehicles, currently used by President Ram Baran Yadav and PM Koirala. Two others are in need for repair.

The vehicles supplied by India are with the Nepal Army at present. Relations between India and Pakistan dipped to a low last month with 19 civilians dying in both countries in the worst border skirmishes in a decade.

Following unprovoked firing by Islamabad, India responded with full force, resulting in 12 deaths and 52 injures in Pakistan.