Defence Minister Bal Krishna Khand has said that Nepal Army will set up divisional headquarters in all seven provinces.

Under the federal structure, the Army will have its divisional headquarters in each province with more divisional heads and army bases as per the demand of the state and chief ministers, Khand said on Wednesday during an interaction at Reporter’s Club in the Capital on Wednesday. “As per the federal structure, the structure of army will be increased and we are going to propose new army bases and a proposal in this respect will be tabled in the Cabinet.”

Though the tasks of the Army will be devised according to the federal structure, the centre will hold the command control, he said, adding that the government and the National Security Council were holding extensive discussions to prepare a new defence policy. “The Defence Ministry is preparing to form a committee of experts for the purpose,” he said. 

Downplaying the recently-concluded Nepal-China joint military exercise, Minister Khand said the drill was aimed at increasing the capability of the Nepal Army on disaster management and counter terrorism.  

He reiterated that the joint military exercise was similar to drills that the NA holds regularly with armies of Indian, US and other friendly countries. 

Khand dropped a hint that the NA is “quite serious” about the implementation of the new constitution, but insisted that the Army will be providing a back support during the local level elections. 

The decision to hold local elections in two phases has eased security threats, he explained, so the Army may not be required to mobilised at all. “In that case, the Army may monitor the situation from the barracks.”

He claimed that after holding the first round of local elections on May 14, incumbent Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal will pass on the baton to Sher Bahadur Deuba as per the previous commitment.