Chief of Army Staff Gen Rajendra Chhetri received honorary rank of General of the Indian Army from Indian President Pranab Mukherjee amid a special ceremony held in latter’s office in New Delhi on Wednesday. The neighbouring countries have a tradition of conferring honorary titles to each other’s army chiefs since 1950.

The then President Ram Baran Yadav had conferred the honorary rank of General of the Nepal Army on Indian Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh at a special function held at Sheetal Niwas on November 13, 2014.

Chhetri, who was promoted to the post of CoAS on September 10, 2015, embarked on his first foreign trip to India on Monday to receive the title.

On Tuesday, he held meetings with Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister for Defence Manohar Parrikar along with his Indian counterpart Gen Singh. He also held separate bilateral talks with Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Robin K. Dhowan, Chief of Staff Committee General Bikram Singh, Chief of the Air Staff Arup Raha and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.