Army chief to visit Nepal as royals to bestow title on him

Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat will visit Nepal from March 28 to 31, close on the heels of a visit by Chinese defence minister Chang Wanquan. Rawat was invited by the Nepal government soon after he assumed office in December.

“The main purpose of the visit is to confer the honorary title of Nepal Army to General Rawat,” said Nepal Army spokesperson General Tara Bahadur Kari.

President Bidhya Devi Bhandrai will confer the title to Rawat on March 29 at a special function for his “commendable military prowess and immeasurable contribution to fostering India’s long-standing and friendly ties with Nepal”.

It has been a custom between the armies of the neighbours to confer the title to each other’s army chiefs since 1950.

Gen Rawat will hold a meeting with President Bidhya Devi Bhandrai, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and defence minister Bal Krishna Khad.

He will also visit Pokhara and Muktinath, where the Nepal Army runs a high-altitude military warfare training centre.

Issues related to purchase of military hardware and software for Nepal Army will come up for discussion.

Nepal Army makes almost all military purchases from India .

The proposed three-day visit of the Chinese defence minister to Nepal from March 23 and an upcoming China-Nepal joint military drill have made New Delhi “nervous” as Chang is also going to push Nepal to become a member of China’s ambitious, One Belt One Belt initiative, a flagship foreign policy initiative by President Xi Jinping.

The visit of the Chinese defence minister, whose programme is yet to be made public, is closely followed in New Delhi due to China’s push for joint military exercises and possible defence and military cooperation between Kathmandu and Beijing which raises eyebrows in India.