General Chhatraman Singh Gurung

New Delhi, Dec. 7: Nepal’s army chief, General Chhatraman Singh Gurung, is set to be conferred the honorary status as chief of the Indian Army next week even as Maoists in the Himalayan nation are alleging that India is building an airbase in their territory for use in the event of hostilities with China.

In a military tradition since the 1950s, the armies of India and Nepal confer the status on each other’s chiefs to signal the intensity of their closeness. But in 2005-2006, that tradition was broken as the royal government in Kathmandu tottered. It was restored in 2007.

President Pratibha Patil will hand over the baton, symbolising the honour, to General Gurung at an investiture ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan early next week.

The chief of Nepal’s army is slated to visit India for a week from December 11. General Gurung is likely to visit Dehra Dun on Saturday to witness the passing out parade at the Indian Military Academy, of which he is an alumnus.

The move to confer on General Gurung the title of honorary chief of the Indian Army and Indian assistance to build an airstrip in Surkhet in western Nepal may signal the revival of India-Nepal military relations to the robust level before 2005.

But the Indian defence establishment is less than confident of the stability of Prime Minister Madhav Nepal’s government in Kathmandu with the Maoists resuming their movement. The Maoists allege that Nepal is playing into Indian hands.

The Indian Army’s perception of political developments in Nepal is important because of the large number of Nepalese-origin Gorkha soldiers in its ranks.

The Indian army had suspended recruitment from Nepal following the fall of King Gyanendra in 2006 but last year resumed screening and selecting soldiers.

General Gurung’s visit comes after an India-Nepal joint secretary-level Defence Consultative Group meeting.

Nepal repeated its request to India to restore military supplies to a level it desires — a request also made by visiting Nepalese defence minister Vidya Bhandari earlier this year. But India says officially that it is only supplying non-lethal equipment. The current army of Nepal is a hand-me-down of the Royal Nepal Army that was mostly armed and trained by the Indian Army.

Its equipment is rusty and the army needs spare parts and replenishments from India desperately. During his visit here, General Gurung will re-emphasise his need.

General Gurung took over in August this year after his predecessor, General Rookmangud Katawal, was restored as chief in defiance of the sack order issued by Maoist leader Prachanda when he was Prime Minister in a shaky alliance in April.

Nepal’s President Ram Baran Yadav restored Katawal who resisted efforts to integrate the guerrillas of the Maoists’ Peoples Liberation Army into the country’s regular army. With India now honouring General Gurung, the current chief is also likely to become a target of Maoist ire.

The rebels’ newspaper has alleged that India was building an airbase in Surkhet for use by its air force. Officially, India denies this.

But sources in the defence establishment said there was a request from Nepal’s army to create an airstrip for its air wing.

Such a task would be taken up by India’s Border Roads Organisation, the military infrastructure-building outfit, that is also refurbishing airstrips in Arunachal and Ladakh near India’s China border.