Kathmandu, April 13: The Nepalese Army reciprocated with the Maoists by locking equal number of their weapons in one of their barracks to be monitored by the United Nations.
The process of registration completed on Thursday after three days the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) began the process at the Army's barracks in Chhauni, Kathmandu.
According to UNMIN, a total of 2,855 weapons of the Nepalese Army have been locked up, that include rifles, machine guns, sub-machine guns, pistols as well as mortars.
The storage containers shall be under the round-the-clock surveillance of the UN monitors, although the keys shall be with the Army themselves.
"The number of weapons registered and stored is the same as those stored under UNMIN monitoring by the Maoist army, and they are of equivalent types. The arrangements for registration, storage and monitoring of weapons are identical for those in place for the Maoist army," a statement issued by the UNMIN said.
UNMIN chief Ian Martin and other members of the team inspected the weapons storage facility at the Chhauni Barracks on Thursday.
Martin has described the first phase of the registration and storage of weapons as "excellently achieved" due to cooperation by both the Nepalese Army and the Maoist combatants.
He said it is a significant contribution to the peace process in Nepal, which provides sound foundation for the second phase of work that involves verification of details of the registered combatants in the Maoist cantonments.
The verification of the Maoist combatants is likely to start soon.