President Patil confers honorary title on Nepal Army Chief

New Delhi, Dec 15 (ANI): President Pratibha Patil conferred the rank of honorary General of the Indian Army on Nepal Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Chhatraman Singh Gurung here on Monday evening.

General Gurung, who is on a weeklong visit to India, is an alumnus of the Indian Military Academy (IMA).

Patil conferred the rank at the Rashtrapati Bhawan at a special investiture ceremony. Gurung was presented a sword and peak cap along with a conferment order.

Defence Minister A K Antony, Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor, Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik and Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma and Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar were also present at the ceremony.

Conferring the honorary General rank to each other's Army chiefs is a tradition between India and Nepal.

India enjoys a special military relationship with Nepal, with large number of Nepalese domicile Gorkha soldiers and officers serving in the Indian Army. Sustained cooperation between the two armies is ongoing in the fields of training, visits, equipment cooperation and miscellaneous mutually beneficial activities.

The visit was scheduled after India agreed to resume non-lethal military aid to Nepal after almost four years.

India decided to cut off such supplies to Nepal after former King Gyanendra seized power through a military coup in 2005.

The decision to resume supplies was taken after the Nepalese and Indian Consultative Group held a meeting on security issues in Kathmandu. (ANI)