Chief of General Staff, Nepalese Army

Born on 9 September 1960, Lieutenant General Purna Chandra Thapa was enrolled in the Nepalese Army as an Officer Cadet in 1979 and commissioned as Second Lieutenant into Gorakh Bahadur Battalion on 12 December 1980.

During his 36 years of military service, General Thapa held various Command and Staff appointments at various levels while he also attended/participated in various courses, seminars and exercises both at home and abroad. As a Major, he was Officer Commanding of an Srijung Independent Company, General Staff (GSO-2) at Army HQs and an Instructor/Directing Staff in the Nepalese Army School. As Lieutenant Colonel, he successfully commanded the Srijung Battalion while he also served in the capacity of Staff Officer at Brigade HQ as G-3(Ops) and as Liaison Officer at Principal Military Secretariat.

As a Colonel, he continued in the same secretariat as G-2 staff in the Principal Military Secretariat. During the period of insurgency in Nepal, he was entrusted with the appointment of ACOS(Ops) at Western Division HQ. After commanding the No 2 Brigade as Brigadier General, he held some important positions in the Army HQs; namely Military Secretary and Director of the Directorate of Army Welfare Planning. When promoted to Major General on 15 May 2012, he was appointed as the Adjutant General at Army HQ, and following that successfully commanded the Valley Division. Before the present appointment, he was appointed as Master General of Ordnance at the Army HQs. Curently, he is appointed as Chief of General Staff (CGS) at Army HQs.

As regards to the service to the United Nations, he has accumulated a vast experience. He was a Platoon Commander of the Nepalese Contingent in UNIFIL (Lebanon) in 1986 and an Operation Duty Officer at UNIFIL Headquarters in 1989. He also served in UNPROFOR (Former YUGOSLAVIA i.e., Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia) as the Military Observer in 1994-95. Notably he enriched his experience at the highest level while he led a team representing Government of Nepal and the Nepalese Army as well as Vice Chairman (2009-2011) in the Joint Monitoring Coordination Committee (JMCC) in United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN, 2007-2011). He had served as the Head of Mission, Force Commander and the Designated Official of United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in Golan Heights from 8 February 2015 to 8 February 2016.

Besides various military courses at home, General Thapa attended Battalion Support Weapon Course , Young Officers Course (Infantry) and Security Course for Officers in India and Infantry Officers' Advance Course and Executive Course in the USA. He is a graduate of the Command and Staff College, Nepal. He was an alumni of National Defence College, New Delhi India, where he did the National Defence Course in 2009.

Lt General Thapa is a graduate of Tribhuwan University (Nepal) in Humanities and Social Sciences. He also holds the Degree of Master of Philosophy in Defense and Strategic Studies from the University of Madras (India).

He is highly decorated General Officer and is awarded with "SUPRAWAL JANASEWA SHREE", "SUPRAWAL GORKHA DAKSHIN BAHU" and the "TRISHAKTI PATTA-IV" for his distinguished accomplishments.

Born in a family whose many generations served in the Nepalese Army, both his father and grandfather were Officers in the Nepalese Army. He is the youngest son of Lt Col Phanendra Bahadur Thapa (Retd) and Sabitri Thapa. He is happily married to Mrs Deepa Thapa and blessed with daughter - Ruru and son - Raunak.

His prominent hobbies include sightseeing, cycling and trekking. He has a wide range of travel experience around the world. He has visited many countries, namely; India, China, UK, USA, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Chile, Venezuela, South Korea, Switzerland, Malaysia etc.