US provides $1.8 million engineering equipment to Nepal

KATHMANDU: The US today provided heavy engineering equipment worth $1.8 million to Nepal for developing infrastructure at a key training centre involved in preparing units and individuals for peacekeeping missions.

US Ambassador to Nepal Peter Bodde formally handed over the equipment to the Nepalese Army at the Birendra Peacekeeping Operations Training Centre in Panchkhal.

The Global Peacekeeping Operations Initiative (GPOI) funded equipment includes bulldozers, excavators, grader, backhoe, steam roller, ambulances, water tank truck, dump truck and pickup trucks, according to a US embassy statement.

The equipment will be used for pre-deployment training, infrastructure improvements at the training centre, and peacekeeping missions, according to the Nepal Army.

"With the support of US GPOI funding, and through the efforts of the Nepalese Army, this training centre has become a model of how to provide expertise and pre-deployment training for units and individuals in peacekeeping operations," Bodde said while addressing representatives from Ministries of Defense and of Home Affairs, and senior security officials.

Currently, Nepal is the 6th largest contributor to UN Peacekeeping Operations with over 4,000 soldiers from the Nepal Army and nearly 1,000 from the Nepal Police and Armed Police Force, participating in 14 peace keeping missions across the globe.