Army Chief to head Nepal in November amid map row

New Delhi, Oct 15: Amid the boundary dispute escalations, Indian Army chief General MM Naravane will visit Kathmandu next month. The dates are yet to be announced, the Nepali Army in a statement said that the Indian Army chief will visit Nepal in the month of November this year. The visit was supposed to take place on February 3 but due to COVID-19, the visit was postponed.

 

 

Nepal Army spokesperson Brigadier General Santosh Poudel said, "General Manoj Mukund Naravane, Chief of the Army Staff, Indian Army will visit Nepal in the month of November this year. The visit was approved by the Government of Nepal on February 3, 2020, but was postponed due to lockdown in both the countries."

 

Further, he stated, Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari will confer the honorary rank of General of the Nepali Army to Army Chief in an investiture ceremony during his visit. It’s a 70-year-old tradition, a reciprocal arrangement between the two armies since 1950.

 

This is set to be the first high-level visit to Nepal from New Delhi after Kathmandu a Constitution amendment Bill was passed by Nepal’s parliament stating a new political map showing Indian territories - Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura, as part of Nepalese territory. This resulted in having differences between the countries.

 

However, in recent months, the communication progressed as the phone conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Oli took place. This was followed by a meeting between officials in Kathmandu to review projects funded by the Indian government. The August 17 meeting took place in Kathmandu where Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi led a team of officials and the Indian side was led by Indian ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra.

 

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