The army chief’s visit will be significant in strengthening the bilateral engagement between India and Nepal

Indian Army Chief General M.M. Naravane will be visiting Nepal in November where he will be conferred the honorary rank of General of the Nepali Army in an investiture ceremony.

The high-level visit was approved by the government of Nepal in February; however, it was postponed due to lockdown in both the countries, according to the Nepal army spokesperson.

As per the tradition of decorating the chiefs of each other’s armies with the highest Army rank, Nepal’s President Bidhya Devi Bhandari will confer the honorary rank upon Gen. Naravane in the ceremony, says a report by abpnepal.net, a Kathmandu-based news portal.

The army chief’s visit will be significant in terms of strengthening the bilateral engagement of India with Nepal. As part of its ‘Neighborhood First policy’, India has begun several projects with the Himalayan Nation aside from helping the country in its fight against Covid-19.

Recently, India gifted Nepal 41 ambulances and 6 school buses to government and Non-Profit organizations in around 30 districts of the neighboring country to mark the 151st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The contribution was welcomed by the senior officials in Nepal.



Apart from this, India has time and again helped Nepal in its infrastructural development. In fact, the Indian government has extended the Lines of Credit of US $1.65 billion for development of infrastructure in the Himalayan country.

Earlier in September, India handed over two modern trains to Nepal that would run between Jaynagar in Bihar and Kurtha in Dhanusa district from mid-December.

When it comes to infrastructural development, after the April 2015 Nepal earthquake, India committed grant assistance of USD 1 billion for reconstructing Nepal.

The Embassy of India in Kathmandu, recently, noted that over 46,000 out of 50,000 houses have been completed for the Government of India supported beneficiaries in Nuwakot and Gorkha districts in the housing sector.

As a part of Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC),India trained Nepalese health professionals and frontline workers in the best practices in Covid-19 through 11 e-ITEC courses.

Besides, India and Nepal share an excellent bilateral relationship in terms of economy and business.

The government data suggests that the total bilateral trade between the two nations reached a high of US $8.27 billion in the Financial Year 2018 to 2019. While India imported goods worth US $508 million, the Indian exports to Nepal stood at US $7.76 billion.

The recent development of the army chief’s visit will add to the already cordial relationship between the two countries.