Nepal, China to conduct first ever joint military drill

Nepal and China will hold their first ever joint military exercise early next year.

The Kathmandu Post and the state-owned People's Daily of China quoted the Chinese Ministry of National Defence (MOD), as saying that the drill will be conducted in 2017.

The announcement was made through a tweet by Chinese MOD Spokesperson Senior Colonel Yang Yujun.

Senior Colonel Yang was further quoted, as saying by the media that that both China and Nepal have had "initial communication" about joint army exercises, and details would be announced in due time. He, however, did not give any details related to the proposed first joint exercise between the defence forces of the two countries.

It is expected that the military drill code named "Pratikar-1" will focus on training Nepali soldiers in dealing with hostage scenarios involving international terror groups.