Indian Army chief in Nepal, visits temple

Visiting Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat offered prayers at the Bindhyabasini temple in Nepal's Pokhara city on Tuesday, a day after he arrived here to participate in the Nepal Army Day celebrations.

General Rawat and several Nepal Army officers were welcomed by the temple's development committee. "He was happy to offer prayers in the temple. We were amazed he spoke Nepali language so well," committee secretary Tirtha Shrestha was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post.

The Indian Chief of Army Staff arrived in Kathmandu on Monday at the invitation of his Nepali counterpart Rajendra Chhetri to witness the Army Day Parade on Tuesday in Tundhikhel in the heart of Kathmandu.

"General Rawat is also the honorary chief of the Nepal Army, and hence he has been invited this year as a special guest," Nepal Army spokesperson Brigadier General Gokul Bhandari had said earlier.

Apart from meeting Chhetri, General Rawat will call on President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Defence Minister Bhimsen Das Pradhan and other leaders.

The two sides will discuss various aspects of military-to-military cooperation during General Rawat's visit, which comes at a time when Nepal is getting ready for the formation of a new government led by K.P. Oli, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist.

--IANS

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