Army Chief Gen MM Naravane arrives in Nepal on crucial visit

Army chief Gen MM Naravane arrived in Nepal on Wednesday on a three-day crucial visit that’s largely geared toward resetting the bilateral ties that got here underneath extreme pressure following a bitter border row between the 2 nations.

Gen Naravane is visiting Nepal on the official invitation of Nepal Army chief Gen Purna Chandra Thapa.

He was accompanied by his spouse Veena Naravane, who’s the chairperson of the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) of the Indian Army.

They have been obtained by the Chief of General Staff, Lt.Gen Prabhu Ram upon arrival on the Tribhuvan International Airport round midday.

The Nepali Army believes that change of such high-level visits and continuation of custom helps in strengthening relations between the 2 armies, contributing to enhancing the connection between the 2 nations, reads a press release issued by the Nepal Army.

Gen Naravane on Tuesday mentioned he was eagerly wanting ahead to the visit and exuded confidence that it’s going to go a great distance in strengthening the “bonds of friendship” between the armies of the 2 nations.

His engagements in Nepal embrace a visit to the headquarters of the Nepalese Army, an handle to the younger navy officers at Nepali Army’s Staff College and attending a banquet to be hosted in his honour by Chief of Nepalese Army Gen Purna Chandra Thapa.

He will maintain formal talks together with his Nepalese counterpart on the Nepal Army headquarters on Thursday.

The Indian Army Chief will probably be conferred with the honorary rank of General of Nepal Army by President Bidya Devi Bhandari amidst a particular ceremony on the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

He will even pay a courtesy name on President Bhandari after the ceremony on Thursday. He is scheduled to satisfy Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Friday.

India’s determination to ship the Army chief to Nepal to reset the ties is seen as half of a bigger train by New Delhi to rejuvenate relations with Myanmar, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Afghanistan in the wake of better efforts by China to develop its affect in the area.

The ties between the 2 nations got here underneath pressure after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an 80-km-long strategically crucial street connecting the Lipulekh cross with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8.

Nepal protested the inauguration of the street claiming that it handed via its territory. Days later, Nepal got here out with the brand new map displaying Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as its territories.

After Nepal launched the map, India reacted sharply, calling it a “unilateral act” and cautioning Kathmandu that such “artificial enlargement” of territorial claims is not going to be acceptable to it.

In June, Nepal’s Parliament authorized the brand new political map of the nation that includes areas which India maintains belong to it.

India termed as untenable the “artificial enlargement” of territorial claims by the neighbouring nation.

India mentioned Nepal’s motion violates an understanding reached between the 2 nations to resolve the boundary points via talks.

Nepal Prime Minister Oli has been asserting that Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura belong to Nepal and vowed to “reclaim” them from India.

The Lipulekh cross is a far western level close to Kalapani, a disputed border space between Nepal and India.

Both India and Nepal declare Kalapani as an integral a part of their territory – India as a part of Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district and Nepal as a part of Dharchula district.