BRIGADIER GENERAL RAMINDRA CHHETRI

Brigadier General Ramindra Chhetri, born on 15 Nov 1959, joined the Nepalese Army in Dec 1979 and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1980. A graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, UK, the Infantry Officer’s Advanced Course and Command and General Staff College, USA, Gen Chhetri has also trained in Jungle Warfare in Brunei and Intelligence Staff Officer’s course in India. He has attended many other courses, conferences and seminars, including the Comprehensive Security Responses to Terrorism Course in the Asia Pacific Centre for Security Studies, Hawaii.

General Chhetri has served in a wide variety of command and staff billets. His tenures as Commander of two Independent Companies were later mirrored by the rare distinction of commanding three different battalions. As part of Nepal’s early counter insurgency engagements, he pioneered the Integrated Internal Security and Development (ISDP) program and had the honour of commanding the first Nepalese Army battalion to be operationally deployed in a successful counter insurgency campaign against Maoist guerillas. His many other notable past appointments include Senior Operations Officer in 3rd Brigade, Division Plans Officer when the Div-concept was first introduced in the Nepalese Army and when it was responsible at the operations level for the Counter Insurgency Campaign in Western Nepal, Senior Inspector in the Inspector General’s Office and Deputy Director of Military Intelligence. His international operational tours include a deployment with the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in 1988, UN Protection Force in Former Yugoslavia (UNPROFOR) as the Senior Operations Officer of the Nepalese Battalion during the challenging events of 1995 when Croatian Forces attacked through the UN positions to overrun the Serbian Enclaves. Later, in 2000, he commanded a third battalion, deployed as part of the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) during the tense period of the Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon. He has also had the distinction of having served as a Directing Staff at the Nepalese Military Academy and at the Nepalese Army Infantry School.

With the deployment of the Nepalese Army in counterinsurgency combat operations in 2003, General Chhetri, then a Lieutenant Colonel, was called upon to set up the Nepalese Army Psychological Operations Task Force, which was systematically institutionalized and upgraded under his command to form a directorate headed by him.

Gen Chhetri’s prompt reflexes saved his life on 28 Oct 2003, when a team of 7 Maoist assassins attacked him outside his home. Not one to let his injuries slow him down, currently he is the Nepalese Army’s Director of Public Relations and Spokeserson.

General Chhetri’s academic qualifications include a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He is decorated with the Suprawal Gorkha Dakshin Bahu and many other Nepalese and Foreign Medals. Brigadier General Ramindra Chhetri is married to Mrs. Shanta Chhetri and they are blessed with two daughters Abhilasha & Akanksha.