INDO-NEPAL: Army chief to visit Nepal from today to bolster military ties


NEW DELHI: Stepping up the renewed military engagement with Nepal, Army chief General Deepak Kapoor will be leaving for the land-locked Himalayan country on a four-day visit from Tuesday, during which he will also be conferred the honorary rank of general of the Nepalese Army.

The visit — close on the heels of foreign minister S M Krishna’s three-day trip to Nepal — comes at a time when Nepalese Maoists have upped the ante against India by claiming that it was strongly opposing the `integration’ of the erstwhile guerrillas into the Nepalese Army.

Gen Kapoor is slated to hold talks with the Nepalese PM, defence minister and top military brass, among others, as also visit the high-altitude military academy at Jomsom in Mustang district as well as the western regional HQs at Pokhara.

India, of course, is eager to counter China’s strategic inroads into Nepal and has promised to bolster bilateral defence cooperation, including resumption of arms supplies which had run into rough weather in recent times.

The recruitment of Nepalis in Indian Army’s Gorkha Rifles will also figure during the visit. The earlier strife engulfing Nepal ensured no recruitment rallies were held for the purpose from 2006 to 2008.

It was only in February-March last year that the Indian Army once again began the process, with rallies in Dharan (eastern Nepal) and Pokhara (central Nepal), attracting over 15,000 applicants.

There are over 30,000 Nepali Gorkhas currently serving in Indian Army’s seven Gorkha Rifles (Ist, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th and 11th), each of which has five to six battalions, and some paramilitary forces.

India, incidentally, had rolled out the red carpet for Nepalese Army chief General Chhatraman Singh Gurung during his visit to India last month. He, too, had been conferred the honorary rank of “General of Indian Army” by President Pratibha Patil at an investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan on December 14.

REF:TOI