India is going to gift its indigenous advanced light helicopter (ALH), generically named HAL Dhruv, to Nepal. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hand over the helicopter during the 18th Saarc Summit to be held in Kathmandu on November 26-27.
Sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal Army and the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu confirmed the Indian assistance but denied to divulge details. Nepali side had sought to purchase two ALHs from India at highly subsidised price during the 11the Bilateral Consultative Group meeting in Kathmandu in July. After long negotiations, the Indian side had agreed to gift a helicopter to Nepal, sources said.
Earlier, India had provided two ALHs to Nepal Army for monitoring of election security during the second Constituent Assembly elections in November last year.
The helicopters were returned to India but later Nepal government had reportedly requested the Indian side to gift them to the Army. The helicopter is designed to meet the requirement of both military and civil operators. Manufactured by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the helicopter costs $ 6.5 million.
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