The Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army, General MM Naravane, will hold a meeting with KP Sharma Oli, the Prime Minister of Nepal who also has the defense portfolio. The meeting is expected to focus on defense-related issues.
It is likely to take place around noon on Friday. The fact is made significant by the fact that Naravane is the first high-ranking official to visit Nepal a year after the border dispute between the two countries broke out.
According to people familiar with the events, General Naravane will take a one-hour flight to Mount Everest and, after returning from there, will visit the Nepal Army Staff College. His meeting with Oli will take place after that.
If the meeting goes well, Naravane’s visit is likely to be followed by a visit from Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla to Nepal later this month. India could also participate in the meeting of the Joint Committee on Technical Level Limits.
The border dispute erupted after Kathmandu accused New Delhi of showing its role on a new map published in November last year. New Delhi had halted talks with the communist government of the Himalayan nation after its parliament approved a new map in June this year incorporating Indian territory near its border with China.
During the last months, the two neighbors softened their position and tried to re-establish ties. In September, Prime Minister Oli decided to stop the distribution of the next school textbooks that had been published with the revised political map of the country.
Meanwhile, General Naravane was conferred the honorary rank of General of the Nepalese Army on Thursday by the President of Nepal, Bidya Devi Bhandari. He was honored in a ceremony at the official residence of President Shital Niwas in Kathmandu. General Naravane also received a sword and scroll during the performance.
The Prime Minister of Nepal, KP Sharma Oli, the Chief of the Army Staff, Purna Chandra Thapa, the Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, and other Nepalese and Indian officials were present at the function.
Then General Naravane met with the President of Nepal and in the evening a banquet was held in honor of the chief of the Indian army.
General Naravane expressed his gratitude for the honor bestowed on him and also discussed measures to further enhance bilateral cooperation.
India also provided medical equipment, including X-ray machines, computed radiography systems, ICU ventilators, video endoscopy units and anesthesia machines for two Nepalese army field hospitals.
Additional ventilators were also provided to assist the Nepalese military in its fight against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
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