Indian Army Chief General Dhiraj Seth, who assumed office as the 31st chief of the Indian Army on June 30, is scheduled to arrive in Kathmandu on August 16 for a five-day official visit.

General Seth is visiting Nepal at the invitation of Chief of the Army Staff General Ashok Sigdel to receive the honorary rank of General of the Nepali Army.

Nepal and India share a seven-decade-old tradition of conferring honorary general ranks on each other's army chiefs.

During his visit, General Seth is also expected to pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Balendra Shah. Officials familiar with the visit said a request for the meeting has been sent to the Prime Minister's Office, although it has yet to be officially confirmed.

In keeping with the longstanding tradition between the two armies, President Ramchandra Paudel will confer the honorary rank of General of the Nepali Army on Seth.

"Whenever a new army chief assumes office in either country, there is a tradition of exchanging high-level visits during which both chiefs are conferred with the honorary rank of General," said Brigadier General Rajaram Basnet, spokesperson for the Nepal Army. "Once the visit is officially confirmed, we will make the itinerary public," he added.

General Seth will be the first senior Indian official to visit Nepal since the formation of the Balendra Shah government on March 27. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had earlier been scheduled to visit Kathmandu, but the trip was postponed due to protocol-related reasons.

Nepali Army chief Sigdel was conferred with the honorary rank of General of the Indian Army by Indian President Droupadi Murmu in December 2024.