Kathmandu, Aug 17 (SocialNews.XYZ) Nepal's President Ram Chandra Paudel on Monday conferred the honorary rank of General of the Nepali Army on Indian Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Dhiraj Seth.
Nepal and India share a unique, decades-old tradition, dating back to 1950, of conferring the honorary rank of General on each other’s Army Chiefs. The tradition is believed to have contributed to strengthening military-to-military relations between the two countries.
President Paudel presented General Seth with the insignia of the honorary rank of General of the Nepali Army at a special ceremony held at Shital Niwas, the President’s Office.
Nepal's Vice President Ramsahay Prasad Yadav, Minister for Foreign Affairs Shisir Khanal, Chief Secretary Govinda Bahadur Karki, Chief of the Army Staff General Ashok Raj Sigdel, Former Chiefs of the Army Staff, Nepali Army, Secretaries of different ministries, Ambassador of India to Nepal and Defence Attaches of friendly foreign countries were also present at the investiture ceremony.
The Indian Army Chief, who assumed office as the 31st Chief of the Indian Army on June 30, arrived in Kathmandu on a four-day visit to Nepal at the invitation of Nepal’s Army Chief, General Ashok Raj Sigdel, according to the Nepali Army.
General Seth led a five-member Indian Army delegation including his wife, Komal Seth, who is the Chairperson of the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) of the Indian Army.
AWWA Chairperson Komal Seth had a meeting with the President of Nepali Army Wives Association (NAWA) Nita Chhetri Sigdel at her office. The Nepali Army Wives Association also highlighted different welfare activities conducted by the Association during the meeting.
According to the Nepali Army, Chief of the Army Staff General Sigdel is hosting a banquet in honour of General Seth and the visiting delegation on Monday evening.
Before being conferred the honorary rank, General Seth paid a courtesy call on Nepal’s Chief of the Army Staff, General Sigdel, on Monday.
“During the meeting, they discussed matters of mutual interest and ways to strengthen bilateral military relations between Nepal and India,” the Nepali Army said in a social media post.
During the visit, General Seth also received and inspected a Guard of Honour at the Nepali Army Headquarters. He also paid homage to the martyrs by laying a wreath at the Martyrs’ Memorial at the Army Pavilion on Monday.
Following General Seth’s arrival on Sunday, the Nepali Army said in a statement that such high-level exchanges contribute to strengthening the close and longstanding relations between the two armies.
The visit comes as part of regular high-level military exchanges between Nepal and India, reflecting the traditionally close ties between the armed forces of the two neighbouring countries.
Meanwhile, General Seth also met Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava on Sunday evening. During the meeting, they discussed ways to further strengthen the comprehensive relationship between the two countries, according to the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.
The embassy said the visit would provide an opportunity for the two sides to review and further advance defence cooperation and longstanding military ties between Nepal and India.
“The visit reaffirms the unique and time-tested defence relationship between Nepal and India, founded on shared values, mutual trust and enduring army-to-army ties,” the embassy said.
It is, however, not immediately clear whether General Seth will meet Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah, who also serves as the country’s Defence Minister.
Prime Minister Shah has maintained strict diplomatic protocol when meeting foreign diplomats and officials. He met the Indian and Chinese ambassadors separately only last week, while avoiding meetings with other foreign diplomats so far.
Although there has been speculation that the Indian Army Chief could raise the issue of recruiting Nepali youths into the Indian Army, a process that has been halted since 2019, Nepali Army’s Spokesperson Brigadier General Rajaram Basnet said Sunday he was not aware of any such agenda.
Recruitment of Nepali youths into the Indian Army has been paused since 2019, initially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nepal subsequently suspended the recruitment process after India introduced the Agnipath scheme in 2022. Under the scheme, up to 25 percent of recruits are retained for permanent service after four years.
The remaining 75 percent are discharged with a one-time lump-sum payment and do not receive pensions or other long-term career benefits. The Nepali government halted the recruitment of Nepali youths into the Indian Army, arguing that the scheme was inconsistent with the provisions of the 1947 Tripartite Agreement between India, Nepal and Britain.
With limited employment opportunities in Nepal, many young people could still be interested in joining the Indian Army under the Agnipath scheme. However, the Nepali government has not allowed the recruitment process to resume.
Last week, a group of Nepali youths organised a rally in Pokhara, a major tourism city in western Nepal, demanding that the government reconsider its position and allow Nepali youths to join the Indian Army under the revamped recruitment scheme introduced by the Indian government.
Source: IANS
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