Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande arrived in Kathmandu Sunday on a five-day visit that comes at a time of uncertainty regarding the recruitment of Gorkhas from Nepal into the Indian Army. During his visit, General Pande will meet Nepal’s President and Prime Minister, and will also be conferred with the ‘Honorary General’ rank of Nepal Army. The recruitment of Gorkhas to the Indian Army was suspended by Nepal last month, with the country’s Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka telling Indian ambassador Naveen Srivastava that recruitment under India’s Agnipath scheme does not conform with provisions of the tripartite agreement signed by Nepal, India and Britain on November 9, 1947. General Pande will meet Nepal counterpart General Prabhu Ram Sharma and hand over medical equipment, vehicles and other items to the Nepal Army. On Monday, he will be conferred the ‘Honorary General’ rank of Nepal Army. This practice is as old as Gorkha recruitment. Although the Gorkha issue is not mentioned in the itinerary, the length of his visit, which will be more than that of other Army chiefs in the past, indicates that the issue may be talked about.
