On Monday, in a ceremony held at Shital Nivas in Nepal's capital Kathmandu, the country's President Ramchandra Paudel conferred the honorary rank on the Indian Army Chief.

Since 1950, this special military tradition has been continuing between India and Nepal. Under this, the serving army chiefs of the two countries are given the honorary rank of General of each other's armies.

General Dheeraj Shetty reached Nepal on Sunday on a four-day visit. At the beginning of the visit, he met with Nepal's Army Chief General Ashok Raj Sigdel. During the meeting, various issues of mutual interest between the two countries and ways to further strengthen military cooperation were discussed.

Importance of strengthening defence ties

The Indian Embassy views General Shetty's visit as part of the continuity of the long-standing India-Nepal defence relationship. The embassy said this cooperation is based on the shared values, mutual trust and army-to-army relations of the two countries.

As part of the visit, General Shetty also met Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava. The meeting discussed various aspects of further advancing the overall bilateral relations.

In addition, on Monday, the Indian Army Chief handed over military and medical equipment to the Nepali Army. Later, he planted a sapling in the premises of Nepali Army Headquarters and received a Guard of Honour.

The Nepali Army said it hopes that General Shetty's visit will further strengthen mutual trust and cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries.