India, Sept. 17 -- India and Nepal have had deep cultural, religious and ethnic ties. But for geo-political and strategic reasons, Indo-Nepal ties have been through ups and downs. But, their military-to-military relations have always been strong. By a convention started in 1972, the chiefs of the Indian and Nepalese armies are conferred the honorary rank of chief in each other's country. Another convention has been that after taking over as army chief, their first visit outside their own country would be to the other country. Accordingly, after taking over as Chief of the Army Staff on October 1, 1997, at the invitation of the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) chief, General Dharampal Thapa, I visited the Himalayan kingdom for five days. My host was warm and friendly; a leader who knew, cared for and valued the relationship between our two armies. As planned, King Birendra presented the sword, Nepalese epaulette of a General and the royal seal to me at the palace. I also called on then Nepal PM Surya Bahadur Thapa. Before leaving Nepal, I invited General Thapa to review the next Indian Military Academy (IMA) parade on December 6, 1997. He was to be the first foreign army chief since 1954 to do so. He accepted my invitation happily. As luck would have it, on December 1, 1997, an Indian news magazine published extracts of the Jain Commission report, which dragged the Nepalese monarchy into a controversy by linking it to Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. The narrative stated that the Jain Commission report contained a letter from the Research and Analysis Wing, which, quoting "unverified information", implicated the Nepalese queen in the assassination. The adverse impact of the magazine report was immediate. Nepal cancelled General Thapa's visit. I called him up on December 4 and requested him to persuade his government that this ceremonial visit should not be cancelled. I argued against upsetting the historical military-to-military relations on the basis of an unsubstantiated report. General Thapa told me he would convey this to his PM, but that it was unlikely to work as the cancellation order had come directly from the king. The same day, I met then Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral and explained the embarrassing situation on account of this last-minute change of an important military event, where foreign diplomats and military attaches had been invited. The IMA had also invited former Pakistani army officers of its pre-Partition second batch. The PM gave me permission to convey a personal message to King Birendra through our ambassador in Kathmandu, KV Rajan. I requested him to convey my urgent message to the King of Nepal and also speak to Prime Minister Thapa. Ambassador Rajan was prompt. On December 4 evening, General Thapa rang up and informed me that the King had rescinded his order. He had been permitted to visit Dehradun, but he was to return immediately thereafter. Thus, the rest of his schedules in India till December 10 would not be possible. It was obvious that King Birendra was quite upset. On December 5, General Thapa arrived in the afternoon by a regular flight from Kathmandu. We arranged an Air Force plane to take him to Sarsawa. From there, he was sent by car to Dehradun, just in time for the formal IMA dinner. The next day, he reviewed the passing-out parade and spoke of close traditional relations enjoyed by the Indian and Nepalese armies. Though he had cancelled all other engagements, I was able to arrange his calling-on meeting with Gujral before flying back to Kathmandu. All's well that ends well. Since then, our armies have added another tradition of all honorary chiefs being invited to each other's countries bi-annually. The military-to-military relations between India and Nepal continue to be strong....