The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff reporter

The six horses presented to Bangladesh Army Chief General Moeen U Ahmed by his Indian counterpart General Deepak Kapoor at a ceremony at the South Bloc, in New Delhi in India yesterday, included a fourth generation offspring of stallions that was presented to first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru by his Soviet counterpart, an senior Indian military Commander told journalists after the function, according to a news received in Dhaka yesterday.

The six horses are valued at a little over Rs.35 million (US $850,000), a leading Indian daily-Times of India said.

Speaking about the horses, Lt. Gen. Narayan Mohanty, who heads the Indian Army's Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC), said they would be used for breeding and helping to improve the standard of equestrian sports in Bangladesh.

"Their offspring will be trained in show jumping and other equestrian sports,"' Mohanty told journalists after the presentation ceremony.

The horses have been bred at the RVC's equine breeding farms at Hissar in Haryana and Babugarh in Uttar Pradesh, both an hour's drive from Delhi.

Each of the stallions is worth Rs.10 million, while each mare is valued at Rs.4 million.

Interestingly, one of the stallions-Valiant-is the fourth generation offspring of a horse named Sumrak that the then Soviet government presented to India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

The horses will be taken by truck to the Bangladesh border, where they will be handed over to the Bangladesh authorities.