Kathmandu: Indian Army chief General Dhiraj Seth arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday evening to receive the honorary rank of General of the Nepali Army.
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.
“Indian Army Chief General Dhiraj Seth is arriving in Kathmandu on Sunday,” Nepal Army spokesman Brigadier General Rajaram Basnet said ahead of the visit. “He is scheduled to receive the honorary rank of General of the Nepali Army from President Ram Chandra Poudel on Monday during a special ceremony.”
The Indian Army Chief, who assumed office as the 31st Chief of the Indian Army on June 30, is visiting Nepal at the invitation of his counterpart, General Ashok Raj Sigdel.
Sigdel was conferred with the honorary rank of General of the Indian Army by Indian President Droupadi Murmu in December 2024.
The Indian Army also confirmed the visit through its X account.
“The COAS proceeded on an official visit to Nepal today. The visit aims to further foster mutual understanding, exchange views on aspects of common interest and strengthen bilateral defence cooperation between the two nations,” it said.
During the visit, General Seth is scheduled to meet General Sigdel, according to Nepal Army spokesperson Basnet.
It is, however, not immediately clear whether COAS 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 only last week, while avoiding meetings with other foreign diplomats so far.
Basnet said he was not aware of any other meetings scheduled for the Indian Army chief during his stay in Nepal.
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, Basnet said 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 per cent of recruits are retained for permanent service after four years.
The remaining 75 per cent 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 the UK.
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.
(IANS)
