New Delhi: India has given Nepal at "concessional rates" small arms, mines and helicopters to fight the problem of Maoist insurgency being faced by that country, Army chief general N C Vij said on March 10.

"We have given whatever assistance was sought by Nepal, a friendly, neighbouring country, to overcome its internal problem," he told reporters after flagging off a joint Indo-Nepal mountaineering expedition to Mount Everest.

Asked about the type of weapons that have been supplied, Vij said India has provided rifles, machine guns, mortars, mines and helicopters to help Kathmandu combat the Maoist problem.

Asked if India had sold the weapons to Nepal, the Army chief said, "They have been given at concessional rates".

Flagging off the expedition, Vij said such exercises brought the two countries closer and also allowed soldiers to develop leadership qualities.

Led by colonel Ashok Abbey, a veteran mountaineer and principal of the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, the expedition has been organised by the Indian and the Royal Nepal armies to commemorate the golden jubilee of the historic ascent to Mount Everest in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay.

Besides attempting Mount Everest, it would be the first Indian ascent to Mount Lhotse, which forms part of Mount Everest and is the fourth highest mountain in the world.

Lieutenant colonel Surya Sen of the Nepalese Army would lead the Nepalese team for the expedition, which is scheduled to establish its base camp on April 1 on Khumbu Glacier. It would attempt to scale the two mountains in May.

PTI