from: World Tibet Network Weekly Digest March, 7-13 1995

NEW DELHI, April 11 (Reuter) - Nepal's Prime Minister Man Mohan Adhikary on Tuesday demanded the right to import arms from China, pressing India to change a treaty with Kathmandu that effectively opposes such a deal. "It is the right of every country to import arms which are cheaper," Adhikary, who arrived here on his first foreign visit on Monday, told a news conference following official talks with Indian Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao.

Adhikary, Hindu kingdom Nepal's first communist premier, said he would seek closer cross-border ties with Tibet during his talks with Chinese leaders in Beijing during a five-day visit from April 17. He goes to Mongolia on April 21. "We want to integrate our economy closer with Tibet," he said. "That's an outstanding issue and we will raise it with the Chinese leadership."

He said Rao had expressed appreciation of Nepal's arms position but admitted their talks stopped short of agreement. "You reach consent after appreciation," Adhikary said.

Indian defence officials said Nepal's import of two dozen anti-aircraft guns from China in 1988 had triggered a showdown between New Delhi and Kathmandu resulting in a crippling trade blockade of the landlocked country by India.

Adhikary became Nepal's prime minister when his pro-China United Marxist Leninist party defeated a pro-India Nepali Congress party. "The elections are over and that chapter is closed," he said on Monday. "As they say, all is fair in love and war."