Sunday, December 18 2005 11:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kathmandu: Nepalese Army, which is fighting the Maoist insurgency in the Himalayan kingdom, has not received any arms supply from Pakistan, its chief Pyarjung Thapa has said.

Stating this, Thapa, who returned yesterday from a week-long visit to Pakistan, added that the Pakistan Army has, however, provided training to the Nepalese Army.

Training is the main field of cooperation between the two armies, the Nepalese Army chief told reporters.

Thapa, who met President Pervez Musharraf and other high-ranking Pakistani Army officials during his visit, noted that Pakistan has previously also provided training to the Royal Nepal Army. He said his talks with the Pakistani officials focused only on that topic.

The Nepalese Army chief said that his talks in Pakistan were not regarding providing weapons to the Nepalese Army.

"I feel that the visit has further strengthened bilateral relations," he said.

Thapa also announced that the Army will provide job opportunities to the family members of the 11 innocent civilians killed by a soldier at Nagarkot recently.

After his arrival from Pakistan, Thapa went straight to the Army Hospital at Chhauni to visit those injured in the shooting. He assured the injured that action will be taken as per the report of the probe committee.

Nepal Government has already announced a compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh each to the family members of those killed in the incident. Besides, it had said that it would bear the medical expenses of the injured.