British Army chief General Sir David Julian Richards is arriving on a six-day official visit to Nepal Thursday at the invitation of Chief of Army Staff (C0AS) Chhatra Man Singh Gurung.

British Army chief General Sir David Julian Richards

Issuing a press statement Monday, Nepal Army's (NA) Directorate of Public Relation (DPR) said General Richards will pay a courtesy call on President Dr Ram Baran Yadav at the President's Office in Shital Niwas on Friday morning and then call on Defense Minister Bidhya Devi Bhandari later in the afternoon.

Thereafter, he is scheduled to attend a Wreath Laying ceremony at "Bir Smarak" at Army grounds in Tudhikhel and receive a guard of honour from Nepal Army.

The same day, the British Army chief will meet his Nepalese counterpart COAS Chhatra Man Singh Gurung and attend a dinner to be hosted in his honor in the evening.

On Saturday, he will visit the training centre for NA's peace keeping missions in Panchkhal of Kavre. The same day he will leave for Pokhara to attend various programmes organized by the British Gurkha Camp, the main Gurkha recruiting center.

On Sunday afternoon he will return to Kathmandu and meet Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal later in the evening.

General Richards is scheduled to attend various programmes organized by the British Gurkha Nepal Society, Area Welfare Center including the ex-British Gurkha soldiers in Nepal on Monday.

General Richards will return to Britain on Tuesday.

The British Army chief's visit to Nepal follows the one made by the Indian Army chief Deepak Kapoor last month during which time the latter was conferred with the honorary title of General of Nepal Army.  (source:nepalnews.com)