On Tuesday, Indian Army chief General Dhiraj Seth met with Nepal’s Prime Minister and Defence Minister Balendra Shah. The discussion focused on strengthening military ties and addressing mutual interests between the two nations.
Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava was also present at the meeting held at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in Singha Durbar amid unease in ties between the two neighbours. Prime Minister Shah, however, has not undertaken any visit to either the southern or the northern neighbour. Instead, Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal made back-to-back visits to New Delhi and Beijing in June.
General Seth, who is on a four-day official visit to Nepal from August 17 to 19 at the invitation of his Nepalese Army counterpart General Ashok Raj Sigdel, was conferred the rank of Honorary General of the Nepali Army by President Ramchandra Paudel during a ceremony here on Monday.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed matters related to bilateral interest and strengthening bilateral military relations, according to sources at the Prime Minister’s secretariat. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shah held his first one-on-one meeting with Indian Ambassador Srivastava and emphasised the need to deepen the country’s “historic relationship” with India.
In his maiden appearance in the parliament on May 31, PM Shah had said that he has learnt about his country “encroaching” territories in India.
