Nepal's army chief to visit India next week

Nepalese Army chief General Rajendra Chettri will visit India next week, his first trip abroad since assuming command of the country's military.
Chhetri will visit India from February 1 for a six-day official trip on the invitation of his Indian counterpart General Dalbir Singh, Nepal Army headquarters sources said.
This will be Chhetri's first visit abroad after assuming the top army post in September last year.
This will be a "regular visit" of the Nepal army chief to India, sources said here. There is a tradition of paying a visit to India by the Nepal army chief after assuming office.

The detailed programme of the visit is yet to be worked out, an official at the Public Relations Directorate of the Nepal Army said.
As per tradition, the Nepalese army chief is likely to be conferred the title of honorary chief of the Indian Army.

Chettri has received Field Artillery and Air Defence Artillery training in the early years of his service from India, Pakistan and China. He is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College, Ft Leavenworth, Kansas, US.
He is also a qualified Psychological Testing Officer from the Defense Institute of Psychological Research, New Delhi.
The army chief's visit comes ahead of the proposed visit of Prime Minister K P Oli to India in February. However, Oli has expressed reservations about making the India visit amid the border blockade.

Oli had said it would not be appropriate to visit India until the "border blockade" ends, linking his maiden foreign trip next month to the normalisation of situation at the border.