With a new defense minister in office, Nepal has sent an invitation to the northern neighbor to send an official team to Nepal to resolve the deadlock over the defunct multi-million dollar deal, officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said. [break]
“We have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to write to the Chinese embassy inviting Chinese officials for talks on the deal,” an official at MoD told Republica on condition of anonymity.
MoFA Spokesperson and Joint Secretary Rudra Prasad Nepal, who heads the China desk at the ministry, confirmed the fresh bid by the government to settle the deadlock over the aircraft purchase deal.
Nepal wanted talks a few months earlier and had even sent an invitation to the northern neighbor. But China had replied that they would visit Kathmandu after a new minister assumed charge at MoD, said the defense ministry official. MoD reopened the defunct deal last week after Bishnu Paudel became the new defense minister.
Nepal had ordered the MA-60 turboprop civilian aircraft from Chinese manufacturer Xi´an Aircraft Industry Group Co under the royal regime in 2005. But Nepal refused to buy them after the removal of the royal government in April 2006 though the twin-engine aircraft were already built as per the $27 million deal.
As the deadlock over the deal became protracted, the Nepal government, in a bid to resolve the stalemate, asked China in December 2009 to supply two helicopters in lieu of the two MA-60 turboprops. Chinese officials had replied positively to Nepal´s proposal then.
While Nepal expects the northern neighbor to resolve the deadlock in view of the friendly relations between the two countries, the manufacturer of the 56-seater aircraft has sought compensation from Nepal for not purchasing the aircraft ordered.
“We will try to resolve the issue through bilateral talks,” said the MoD official.
The aircraft, meant to be purchased initially for the Nepal Army under a ´buy two get one free scheme´ , is the original Soviet Antonov An-24 upgraded with Pratt & Whitney engines and Rockwell avionics. Although the MA-60 has been exported to Zimbabwe, Fiji, Eritrea and Congo, it does not have UK or US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) certification yet and has been decommissioned by China´s own Wuhan Airlines and China Eastern Airlines.
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