KATHMANDU: Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Ashok Raj Sigdel met Prime Minister Balendra Shah (Balen) at Singha Durbar on Friday, though the agenda of the high-level meeting was not disclosed.
Sigdel arrived at Singha Durbar earlier in the day for the meeting. A source at the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that the army chief was holding talks with the prime minister, but the agenda of the discussion was not immediately known. The Nepali Army said that meetings between Prime Minister Shah, who also oversees the Ministry of Defence, and the army chief are held regularly.
Prime Minister Shah and Chief of Army Staff Sigdel had also met on August 4. During that meeting, they reportedly discussed the use of a dozer on Nepal Trust land in Gokarna that is under army protection. The issue involved activities linked to Raju Pandey, a lawmaker from the prime minister’s party.
According to sources at the Prime Minister’s Office, the army chief had expressed dissatisfaction over the matter during the discussion. Following that meeting, lawmaker Pandey issued a statement clarifying his position on the controversy.
