http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...y-chief/articleshow/7123162.cms#ixzz18XZvr6vA
KATHMANDU: Nepal's army is readying the red carpet for the imminent visit by Indian Army chief, Gen Vijay Kumar Singh, who, in addition to being conferred the honorary title of general of the Nepal Army, will also be escorted to the army's elite Mountain Warfare Centre in freezing northern Nepal and the its divisional headquarters in the west.
Gen Singh, who is arriving in Kathmandu Monday, will start his three-day official visit by laying a wreath at the memorial in Tundikhel, next to the Nepal Army headquarters, to honour the soldiers who died while defending their country. He will also be given a guard of honour by the Nepal Army and hold talks with his Nepali counterpart, Gen Chhatraman Singh Gurung. In December 2009, Indian President Pratibha Patil had conferred the honorary rank of Indian Army general on Gen Gurung in observance of the nearly six-decade old practice between the two armies of the two neighbouring countries to honour each other's army chiefs as honorary generals of their own armies.
On Tuesday, Gen Singh will visit the Mountain Warfare Training Centre in Jomsom in Mustang, the northernmost district adjoining the Tibetan border. The centre, established nearly 40 years ago after Nepal's army disarmed Tibet's Khampa warriors, who were waging a guerrilla war against the invading Chinese army, currently trains members of the Indian Army as well as personnel from other countries like the UK, France, Italy and Sri Lanka.
From Jomsom, he will be visiting Pokhara city, which had more than its fair share of limelight this week, when police arrested former crown prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah from a posh resort for rowdy behaviour. Pokhara is one of the main recruitment centres for the Indian Army's Gorkha brigade and also the site of the regional pension camp. Gen Singh will interact with Indian Army veterans, including those who were disabled during warfare, and hand over scooters to six of them as well as sewing machines to soldiers' widows. He will also visit the Nepal Army's western divisional headquarters headed by Major General Nar Bahadur Khandel.
The investiture ceremony will take place on Wednesday, after a visit to the Nepal Army's Peacekeeping Training Centre at Panchkhal. President Ram Baran Yadav will confer the honorary title of general of the Nepal Army on Gen Singh at a ceremony in Shital Niwas in Kathmandu. Gen Singh will receive an insignia, a sword and a citation. The ceremony over, he will meet Nepal's caretaker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Defence Minister Bidya Bhandari.
The ceremonial, good-will visit comes almost 11 months after his predecessor Gen Deepak Kapoor visited Nepal.
KATHMANDU: Nepal's army is readying the red carpet for the imminent visit by Indian Army chief, Gen Vijay Kumar Singh, who, in addition to being conferred the honorary title of general of the Nepal Army, will also be escorted to the army's elite Mountain Warfare Centre in freezing northern Nepal and the its divisional headquarters in the west.
Gen Singh, who is arriving in Kathmandu Monday, will start his three-day official visit by laying a wreath at the memorial in Tundikhel, next to the Nepal Army headquarters, to honour the soldiers who died while defending their country. He will also be given a guard of honour by the Nepal Army and hold talks with his Nepali counterpart, Gen Chhatraman Singh Gurung. In December 2009, Indian President Pratibha Patil had conferred the honorary rank of Indian Army general on Gen Gurung in observance of the nearly six-decade old practice between the two armies of the two neighbouring countries to honour each other's army chiefs as honorary generals of their own armies.
On Tuesday, Gen Singh will visit the Mountain Warfare Training Centre in Jomsom in Mustang, the northernmost district adjoining the Tibetan border. The centre, established nearly 40 years ago after Nepal's army disarmed Tibet's Khampa warriors, who were waging a guerrilla war against the invading Chinese army, currently trains members of the Indian Army as well as personnel from other countries like the UK, France, Italy and Sri Lanka.
From Jomsom, he will be visiting Pokhara city, which had more than its fair share of limelight this week, when police arrested former crown prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah from a posh resort for rowdy behaviour. Pokhara is one of the main recruitment centres for the Indian Army's Gorkha brigade and also the site of the regional pension camp. Gen Singh will interact with Indian Army veterans, including those who were disabled during warfare, and hand over scooters to six of them as well as sewing machines to soldiers' widows. He will also visit the Nepal Army's western divisional headquarters headed by Major General Nar Bahadur Khandel.
The investiture ceremony will take place on Wednesday, after a visit to the Nepal Army's Peacekeeping Training Centre at Panchkhal. President Ram Baran Yadav will confer the honorary title of general of the Nepal Army on Gen Singh at a ceremony in Shital Niwas in Kathmandu. Gen Singh will receive an insignia, a sword and a citation. The ceremony over, he will meet Nepal's caretaker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Defence Minister Bidya Bhandari.
The ceremonial, good-will visit comes almost 11 months after his predecessor Gen Deepak Kapoor visited Nepal.
