NEW DELHI : The Indian Army breeds some of the finest horses and the equines seem to have cementedtheirreputationasthe force’s favourite gift to countries in the neighbourhood.
Army chief General Bipin Rawat presented seven animals —astallionlightbreed, twobrood mares, twogeldsandtwodonkey stallions — tohisNepalicounterpart General Rajendra Chhetri earlierthisweek, duringhisfourday visit to the Himalayan country. The Indian Army’s horses aremuchsoughtafterandsometimesgivenvoluntarilyasagoodwill gesture or following a request from a neighbouring army.
The Indian Army’s animal transportunitsplayanimportant role in carrying rations and stores to remote posts where vehicles cannot reach.
The President of Nepal conferred the title of Honorary General of the Nepalese Army on GeneralRawatataspecialinvestitureceremonyonMarch29. The tradition is areciprocalarrangement between the two countries that has continued uninterrupted since 1969. General Chettri wasgiventhetitleofHonorary General of the Indian Army during his first official visit to the country in February 2016.
Nepalisnotthefirstcountryto receive Indian Army’s horses.
In 2008, the then army chief General Deepak Kapoor handed overtwostallionsandfourmares to the Bangladesh army as a tokenofgoodwillandfriendship. Kapoor handed over the reins of the horses to his Bangladeshi counterpart General Moeen U Ahmed at a special ceremony. The animals were bred at the army’s Remount Veterinary Corps stud farms at Hisar and Babugarh.
The transfer of horses has not alwaysbeensmooth. Afewyears ago, the Sri Lankan army had soughtsixhorsesfromIndia. The proposal, however, got stuck in redtape. Verypromptly, thePakistani Army stepped in and provided the horses that Sri Lanka had sought.
India did gift six horses to Sri Lanka Military Academy (SLMA) in Diyatalawa for trainingtwoyearsagobutitwasmuch after Pakistan had met the requirement.
Army officials said Myanmar has also received horses as gifts fromtheIndianArmy. Arounda year ago, the army gifted 26 horses and mules to the neighbouringarmy. Soimpressedwas the Myanmarese army with the well-bred animals that within a few months it bought 15 more horses from the Indian Army.
“Our horses are as sturdy as our men and in high demand,” said a senior officer.