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General Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Army Staff, Indian Army arrived in Kathmandu on Wednesday on a five-day official visit upon the invitation of General Ashok Raj Sigdel, Chief of the Army Staff, Nepali Army.
During his visit, General Dwivedi will pay homage at the martyrs' memorial in the Army Pavilion and receive a ceremonial Guard of Honour at the Nepali Army Headquarters. He will engage in an official meeting with General Sigdel from the Nepali Army. As per the announcement of the Nepal Army last week, General Dwivedi will also interact with the student officers at the Army Command and Staff College in Shivapuri and visit to Western Divisional Headquarters in Pokhara, Nepal. General Dwivedi will be the conferred honorary rank of General of the Nepali Army by the President of Nepal on Thursday. The practice follows a seven-decade-old tradition of conferring Army Chiefs of each other's country with the honorary title. Commander-in-Chief General KM Cariappa was the first Indian Army Chief to be decorated with the title in 1950. Additionally, General Dwivedi will also meet the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister of Nepal. The strong relations between Nepal and the Indian Army have been further cemented via the Gurkha Regiment. Currently, over 30,000 Gurkha soldiers from Nepal are serving in the Indian Army. In addition to the Military Pension Branch in Kathmandu, Pension Paying offices also function in Dharan and Pokhara, along with the District Soldier Boards, which helps in the effective disbursal of pensions and in organizing various welfare programs including re-training, re-rehabilitating and assisting ex-Gurkha soldiers and their families. Nepal shares the border with 5 Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The age-old civilizational and cultural ties that exist between India and Nepal are exemplified by the strong people-to-people link between both countries. Nepal is a priority partner of India under its 'Neighbourhood First' Policy. These bonds of friendship are also strengthened by regular exchanges at high-level between India and Nepal. These frequent high-level visits and exchanges have added momentum to the bilateral partnerships and helped the leadership to review at regular intervals the entire gamut of the relations. India and Nepal have a long-standing and extensive mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of defence and security. Both armies share an excellent and harmonious relationship based on mutual trust and respect. India and Nepal also have long-standing tradition of awarding Honorary rank of General to each other's' Army Chief.(ANI)
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