Indian Army chief Gen Manoj Pande in Nepal on 5-day visit to boost defence ties

Gen Pande will be conferred with the honorary rank of General of the Nepal Army by President Bidya Devi Bhandari at a ceremony at Sital Nivas, the official residence of Bhandari on Monday. There has been a long tradition of exchange of visits by the army chiefs of Nepal and India and to confer the title of honorary General to both the army chiefs.

India-Nepal relations:

The tradition started between the two countries began back in 1950. While India also confers the honorary rank of “General of Indian Army” to the Nepal Army Chief. It is important to note that Gen Pande is scheduled to visit Nepal Army headquarters where he will pay homage to the fallen soldiers and have interactions with the senior leadership of the force.

Gen Pande took charge as the 29th Chief of the Army Staff on April 30 after Gen MM Naravane retired from service. He will call on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Tuesday, and will also hold wide-ranging talks with his Nepalese counterpart Gen Sharma, apart from meeting with the senior military and civilian leaders of the Himalayan nation, as per the PTI report.

The issue of induction of Gorkhas from Nepal into the Indian Army under the Agnipath scheme is also likely to figure in Gen Pande’s talks in Kathmandu, which reportedly conveyed to New Delhi that the recruitment under the new scheme does not conform to existing provisions for it.

During the current visit, Gen Pande will be holding interaction with the student officers at the Army Command and Staff College, Shivapuri in Kathmandu and pay a visit to Mid-Command Headquarters, Pokhara, according to PTI report.

(With inputs from PTI)

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