Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
02KATHMANDU1831
2002-09-19 12:32:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

NEPAL'S NEW CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF, GENERAL PYAR JUNG

Tags:  PINR MCAP PGOV NP 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 001831 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS AND INR/B
LONDON FOR POL/REIDEL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/18/2012
TAGS: PINR MCAP PGOV NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL'S NEW CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF, GENERAL PYAR JUNG
THAPA

Classified By: AMBASSADOR MICHAEL MALINOWSKI. REASON 1.5D.

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 001831

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS AND INR/B
LONDON FOR POL/REIDEL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/18/2012
TAGS: PINR MCAP PGOV NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL'S NEW CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF, GENERAL PYAR JUNG
THAPA

Classified By: AMBASSADOR MICHAEL MALINOWSKI. REASON 1.5D.


1. (U) General Pyar Jung Thapa (DPOB 15 September 1946;
Siphal, Kathmandu, Nepal) was appointed Chief of Army Staff
(COAS) by King Gyanendra on September 9, 2002. His previous
position, held since 2001, was Chief of General Staff (CGS).


2. (U) Thapa has received extensive training from both the UK
and US militaries, beginning with basic training at the Royal
Military Academy at Sandhurst in 1966. He attended a platoon
commander course and weapons-training course at the School of
Infantry at Warminster, UK in 1967, followed by several
courses in tactics and administration, and army staff
training at Camberley, UK in 1977. He graduated from US Army
Ranger training early in his career, and from the US Army War
College in 1996.


3. (U) COAS Thapa is a veteran of several campaigns in South
Asia and abroad, including two UN Peacekeeping missions. In
1974, following his promotion to Major, he helped lead RNA
action against the Tibetan Khampas taking shelter in the
Mustang district after being displaced from Tibet. In 1983,
as a Lieutenant Colonel, he was given command of the Shree
Singha Nath battalion and in 1986 he was appointed commander
of NEP BATT XIII in the United Nations Interim Forces in
Lebanon (UNFIL). In 1992, he served as deputy sector
commander of United Nations Protection Forces in the
(UNPROFOR) in the former Yugoslavia.


4. (U) Thapa has also been active in training RNA troops,
starting with a two-year assignment as an instructor at the
Royal Nepal Army School at Nagarkot from 1975 to 1977. In
1988, as a Colonel, he was appointed as Commandant of the
Royal Nepalese Military Academy at Kharipati. Promoted to
Major General and appointed Assistant Chief of Staff in 1998,
he was also appointed the chief coordinator for the
multinational platoon training exercise organized at the
Royal Nepalese Army Peacekeeping Training Center in 1999.
The exercise included troops from the US, Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka and Nepal.


5. (C) Thapa is described by Embassy MilOff as more pragmatic
and "more of a thinker" than his predecessor, with more of a
focus on operations. As CGS he was directly involved in the
day-to-day operation of the RNA against Nepal's Maoist
insurgents, equipping him for a more active role than his
predecessor General Prajwalla Rana. He is expected to make
significant changes to the RNA command structure.


6. (U) Thapa has served as Director of Military Operations,
Director of Military Training, Director of Military
Intelligence, Director of Research and Development, Assistant
Chief of Staff, Quarter Master General and head of the Office
of the Inspector General. He has a reputation for leading by
consensus rather than fiat, and believes the military should
stay out of politics.


7. (U) General Thapa has been awarded the Prasidha Prabal
Gorkha-Dakshin-Bahu and Bikhat Trishakti Patta decorations.
He received his high school education from St. Xavier's
Academy, a well-known English-language school in the capital,
and graduated with a B.A. from Tribhuvan University in 1963.
His hobbies include golf, soccer and bridge. He is married
to Ms. Kamala Thapa and has three daughters. Thapa has been
open and friendly with US Embassy officers over the years.
MALINOWSKI