NEPAL CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF CALLS-ON CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF ADMRIAL WIJEGUNARATNE
General Rajendra Chhetri, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) of the Nepali Army paid a courtesy call with the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Admiral Ravindra C. Wijegunaratne at the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff (OCDS) this morning(19th January, 2018).
The Nepal Army Chief was first received by the Chief of Staff of the OCDS, Major General Nirmal Dharmaratne in conformity with military traditions.
Major General Ishwar Hamal, Commander of the Mid Eastern Division of the Nepali Army and Colonel Anup Ung Thapa, the Deputy Military Assistant to the COAS was also present at the occassion.
Cordial discussions ensued between the two officials on matters of mutual cooperation and training.
The visiting COAS expressed his gratitude for the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, especially on the emergency relief work carried out by the Sri Lanka Army in Katmandu when their country was badly affected in a devastating earthquake.
Subsequent to the discussions held mementos were also exchanged between the two officials.
Commissioned into the Rajdal (Artillery) Battalion in 1978 from the then Royal Nepalese Military Academy, Kharipati; General Chhetri is a qualified Paratrooper who has undergone several professional trainings both in Nepal and abroad.He is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, USA (1992) and United States Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania (2010).
He has served in the United Nations as a Platoon Commander in Lebanon in 1985, as a Military Observer in Afghanistan and Pakistan from 1988 to 1989, as a Zone II Operations Officer in Haiti in 1995; and as a Strategic Planning Officer of the Military Division of Department of Peacekeeping Operations at the United Nations Headquarters, New York from 2002 to 2005.
Gen Chhetri has 39 years of military experience, with service during both peace and conflict, at home and abroad. He has recently completed tenures as Quarter Master General, Director General of Military Training, Chief of Staff and Chief of General Staff at Army Headquarters. General Chhetri was appointed as the Chief of the Army Staff on 10 September, 2015 and was conferred the Honorary Rank of General of the Indian Army on 3 February, 2016. He has been honoured with, Prasiddha Prabal Janasewa Shree, Sukritimaya Rastradeep, Prakhyat Trishakti Patta, Prabal Gorkha Dakshin Bahu, four UN Medals and Army Achievement Medals from the USA.
