Nepal Snubs India , to Skip 1st Bimstec Anti-Terror Drill.

Nepal will not be sending its soldiers for the first-ever Bimstec (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) anti-terror military exercise to be held in Pune from September 10 to 16.

Nepal has sent only three "observers" for the "Milex-2018" exercise being hosted by India, which will witness platoon-size contingents (over 30 soldiers each) from other Bimstec countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

In Kathmandu on Saturday, Kundan Aryal, press adviser to PM KP Sharma Oli, was quoted as confirming that "Nepal will not participate in the Bimstec joint military drill."

Nepalese foreign minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali had earlier in the week said there was no discussion held or agreement reached about the military exercise during the 4th Bimstec summit in Kathmandu on August 30-31.

Though PM Narendra Modi, addressing the inaugural session of the summit, had proposed to host the joint military exercise in India in the second week of September, Gyawali later said, "India was free to float the agenda, but we did not endorse it."