As Nepal Army chief General Prabhu Ram Sharma began a four-day visit to India Tuesday, its spokesperson said “Nepal is struggling against the headwind created by growing fissures in the India-China relationship, opening way for a realignment of the traditional strategic orientation” and “the bilateral relationship between Nepal and India is also going through a period of change”.
Writing in The Kathmandu Post, Brigadier General Shantosh Ballave Poudyal said “this visit should not be viewed as a mere continuation of the symbolic tradition” between the two countries — the Chiefs are Honorary Generals of each other’s Army — but “should be seized upon as an opportunity for constructive engagement to create a conducive environment for addressing bilateral issues”.
He said the “Nepali Army is treating the visit as a cornerstone of its military diplomacy; the same, however, cannot be said of the foreign service community that has been reluctant to adopt the term”.
