Nepalese Army chief to visit India

Nepalese Army chief General Rajendra Chettri will visit India on an official trip from February 1 on the invitation of his Indian counterpart General Dalbir Singh.

The Nepal cabinet has given its nod to the General's visit to India, with whose army the Himalayan nation shares close working relations.

The army chief's visit comes ahead of the proposed visit of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to India later in February.

As per tradition, the Nepalese Army chiefs are conferred the title of honorary chief of the Indian Army. The Indian Army chief is also conferred the title of honorary chief of the Nepalese Army.

"This is a regular and official visit," Industry Minister Som Prasad Pandey said here on Thursday.

Though the itinerary of the visit is yet to be unveiled by the Nepalese Army headquarters, officials said Gen. Chettri will be conferred the title of honorary chief of the Indian Army by President Pranab Mukherjee at a special function in New Delhi.

This will be Gen. Chettri's first foreign visit after being promoted as chief of the army staff on September 10, last year.

Nepal and India have strong military ties and India provides a lot of military equipment, hardware, stores and other logistics to the Nepalese Army.