President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the honorary rank of General of the Indian Army on Nepal Army Chief General Prabhu Ram Sharma at a special Investiture Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Since 1950, India and Nepal have been awarding each other’s Army chief with the honorary rank of General in recognition of the mutual harmonious relationship between the two armies.

Nepal conferred the honorary rank of ‘General of Nepal Army’ to Indian Army Chief Gen M.M. Naravane during his visit to Kathmandu in November last year.

India-Nepal relations

• As close neighbors, India and Nepal share unique ties of friendship and cooperation characterised by an open border and deep-rooted people-to-people contacts of kinship and culture. 

• There has been a long tradition of free movement of people across the border. Nepal shares a border of over 1850 km with five Indian states – Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

• The India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950 forms the bedrock of the special relations that exist between India and Nepal. Nepalese citizens avail facilities and opportunities on par with Indian citizens in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty.

• Nearly 8 million Nepalese citizens live and work in India.

Defence cooperation

• India and Nepal have wide-ranging cooperation in the defence sector. India has been assisting the Nepal Army (NA) in its modernisation by supplying equipment and providing training. 

• Assistance during disasters, joint military exercises, adventure activities and bilateral visits are other aspects of India’s defence cooperation with Nepal. 

• A number of defence personnel from Nepal Army attend training courses in various Indian Army training institutions. 

• The ‘Indo-Nepal Battalion-level Joint Military Exercise SURYA KIRAN’ is conducted alternately in India and in Nepal. 

• The Gorkha regiments of the Indian Army are raised partly by recruitment from hill districts of Nepal. Currently, about 32,000 Gorkha Soldiers from Nepal are serving in the Indian Army.

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