Nepali Army Team Led by Lt. Gen. Anup Jung Thapa Leaves for Honolulu for Seventh Nepal–US Land Forces Talks
Dragon Media Correspondent
A seven-member high-level delegation of the Nepali Army, led by Director General of Military Operations Lieutenant General Anup Jung Thapa, has left for Honolulu, Hawaii, to participate in the seventh Nepal–US Land Forces Talks.
According to information obtained by Dragon Media, the delegation departed from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Saturday night and is travelling to Honolulu via Seoul. The three-day seventh edition of the talks is scheduled to be held from August 11 to 13, 2026, corresponding to Shrawan 26 to 28 in the Nepali calendar.
The Nepal–US Land Forces Talks constitute a regular high-level institutional dialogue between the Nepali Army and the United States Army. The mechanism was initiated in 2018. At the inaugural edition, the Nepali delegation was led by then Lieutenant General Jagadish Chandra Pokharel, while Major General Roger J. Noble represented the US side. Since then, the talks have been hosted alternately by Nepal and the United States.
Previous official accounts indicate that the dialogue is intended to facilitate professional exchanges, military capacity-building cooperation, United Nations peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, as well as discussions on other areas of mutual interest.
The sixth edition, held in Kathmandu in November 2025, also focused on global peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and disaster response. The Nepali delegation was led by Lieutenant General Pawan Ghimire, while the US delegation was headed by Lieutenant General Scott A. Winter, Deputy Commanding General for Strategy and Plans at US Army Pacific.
Hawaii is not a new venue for the bilateral military dialogue. The third Nepal–US Land Forces Talks were held at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, in March 2022. Nepal’s current Chief of Army Staff, General Ashok Raj Sigdel, who was then a major general, led the Nepali delegation at that meeting. According to US Army records, the two sides discussed the alignment of their respective priorities and opportunities for further professional cooperation.
The fourth edition was subsequently held in Kathmandu in 2023. Discussions during that meeting included disaster response and preparedness, relief operations, and US support for the Nepali Army’s participation in international peacekeeping missions. Officials participating in that dialogue had also clarified at the time that the controversial State Partnership Program, or SPP, was not discussed and that no new cooperation framework had been proposed.
Lieutenant General Thapa, who is leading the Nepali delegation to the seventh round in Honolulu, currently serves as Director General of Military Operations of the Nepali Army. His position places him at the centre of the Army’s operational planning and management structure.
Thapa is also considered significant in the context of the Nepali Army’s future leadership succession. Current Chief of Army Staff General Ashok Raj Sigdel is scheduled to complete his regular tenure on Bhadra 24, 2084 BS. If the existing order of seniority, promotion and service tenure remains unchanged, Thapa is expected to be among the foremost officers in line for the Army’s top position.
However, the appointment of the Chief of Army Staff is subject to the prescribed constitutional and formal procedures. Thapa’s possible succession should therefore be understood as part of the current leadership trajectory rather than as an appointment that has already been formally decided.
Against this background, the seventh Nepal–US Land Forces Talks in Honolulu carry significance beyond the routine continuation of bilateral military engagement. The participation of an officer occupying a central operational role and positioned prominently in the Army’s future leadership structure gives the dialogue additional institutional importance for Nepal’s military diplomacy and its longstanding professional engagement with the United States Army.
