Indian Army Chief General Dhiraj Seth Arriving in Nepal Today, to Receive Honorary General Rank Tomorrow

Dragon Media Correspondent

Indian Army Chief General Dhiraj Seth is arriving in Nepal this afternoon on a five-day official visit at the invitation of Chief of the Army Staff of Nepal, General Ashok Raj Sigdel.

General Seth, who assumed office as the 31st Chief of the Indian Army on June 30, is undertaking his first visit to Nepal since taking over the position.

President Ramchandra Paudel, the Supreme Commander of the Nepali Army, is scheduled to confer on General Seth the honorary rank of General of the Nepali Army at a special ceremony to be held at the Office of the President, Sheetal Niwas, on Monday, according to Nepali Army spokesperson Brigadier General Rajaram Basnet.

During the visit, General Seth and General Sigdel are also scheduled to hold bilateral talks at the Nepali Army Headquarters. The discussions are expected to cover the traditional military relationship between the two countries, defence cooperation, training, exchange of professional experience and other matters of mutual interest.

Military relations between Nepal and India constitute one of the longstanding institutional dimensions of bilateral ties. The two armies have maintained regular high-level exchanges, joint military exercises, training programmes and professional cooperation.

The tradition of conferring honorary general ranks on each other’s army chiefs reflects the distinctive institutional relationship between the Nepali and Indian armies.

The practice dates back to 1950. General K.M. Cariappa, then Chief of the Indian Army, became the first Indian Army chief to receive the honorary rank of General of the Nepali Army. Since then, the two countries have continued the reciprocal tradition of honouring each other’s army chiefs.

Nepal’s Chief of the Army Staff, General Ashok Raj Sigdel, was similarly conferred the honorary rank of General of the Indian Army by Indian President Droupadi Murmu in December 2024.

General Seth’s visit is being viewed as an opportunity to continue the longstanding military relationship and high-level defence dialogue between Nepal and India.