India-Nepal defence ties in focus as Army chief meets PM Balendra Shah

Kathmandu,UPDATED: Aug 18, 2026 22:04 IST

Indian Army chief General Dhiraj Seth on Tuesday met Nepal Prime Minister and Defence Minister Balendra Shah and held what the Indian Embassy described as a "warm and productive discussion" on strengthening defence cooperation between the two countries. Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava was also present at the meeting at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers.

The meeting took place during a period of unease in ties between India and Nepal. According to sources at the Prime Minister's secretariat, the two sides discussed matters of bilateral interest and ways to strengthen military relations between the neighbours.

Earlier this month, Shah held his first one-on-one meeting with Ambassador Srivastava and stressed the need to deepen Nepal's "historic relationship" with India. In recent weeks, Shah has moved away from his self-imposed rule of avoiding one-on-one engagements with foreign ambassadors and senior visiting officials.

General Seth is on a four-day official visit to Nepal from August 17 to 19 at the invitation of his Nepali counterpart, General Ashok Raj Sigdel. On Monday, President Ramchandra Paudel conferred on him the rank of Honorary General of the Nepali Army at a ceremony in Kathmandu. Nepal and India have followed a longstanding tradition since 1950 of conferring the honorary rank of General on each other's army chiefs, in what has been described as a unique and time-honoured military practice.

General Seth also held bilateral talks with General Sigdel at the Army Headquarters on Monday, where they discussed matters of mutual interest. The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said the visit "reaffirms the unique and time-tested defence relations between India and Nepal, which are rooted in shared values, mutual trust, and enduring military-to-military ties".

The visit comes against the backdrop of wider political developments in Nepal's engagement with its neighbours. Nepal's leaders have traditionally attached importance to early engagement with New Delhi because of the close political, economic and people-to-people ties between the two countries. Shah, however, has not visited either India or China since taking office. Instead, Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal made back-to-back visits to New Delhi and Beijing in June. Shah's predecessor K P Sharma Oli had visited China after taking over in 2024, departing from the earlier practice of Nepal's prime ministers making India their first foreign visit.

In his first appearance in Parliament on May 31, Shah had said he had learnt about his country "encroaching" territories in India. He also said that apart from discussions with India on the long-running border dispute, Kathmandu was in touch with China and the UK as well. Two days later, New Delhi rejected any role for third parties in resolving its boundary dispute with Nepal. The two countries have an old dispute over Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani, which India has consistently maintained are part of Uttarakhand. Soon after Shah's remarks, Nepal's ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party chairman Rabi Lamichhane visited India and met top Indian leaders.

During his visit, General Seth also went to the Nepali Army Command and Staff College at Shivapuri, where he shared his views on professional military education and contemporary security challenges with faculty and student officers. He also offered prayers at the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu on Tuesday, Nepal Army sources said. Overall, the visit combined ceremonial, military and diplomatic engagements as both sides discussed defence ties and broader bilateral issues.

With PTI Inputs

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