The Indian Army will continue to recruit Nepal Domicile Gurkhas (NDGs) under the Agnipath scheme, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday. The comment came hours after Nepal postponed a recruitment drive for Gurkha soldiers in Butwal where arrangements were made for a round of recruitment for Gurkha soldiers into the Indian Army on Thursday. It is understood the issue would be taken up by the Nepalese authorities during the upcoming visit by Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pandey to Kathmandu.
"We have been recruiting Gurkha soldiers into the Indian Army for a long time and we look forward to continue to recruit them under the Agnipath scheme," said Arindam Bagchi, official spokesperson of the MEA. Sources indicated that India is aware of Nepal's concerns in dealing with the changes that are being interpreted as "significant". Indian authorities had written to the Foreign Ministry of Nepal soon after the June 14 launch of the Agnipath scheme seeking administrative support in Butwal as this was to be the first recruitment drive of the Indian Army in Nepal after the pandemic.
Nepal's Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka met with Indian ambassador Navin Srivastava in Kathmandu on Wednesday and said, "If Nepalis are to be recruited only for four years and not given pension, we should discuss this matter with the political parties and all concerned." Former Foreign Minister and opposition CPN-UML leader Pradeep Gyawali said India should have consulted Nepal before bringing in these changes. "We have serious concern for the future of the 75% of the recruits who will become jobless after being trained in military combat. Prospects of having such young men who will remain unemployed despite being well trained in military combat are causing deep worries in Nepal which has emerged from a decade-long civil conflict," Mr. Gyawali told The Hindu in a telephone call from Kathmandu, explaining that such youngsters could be "misled" causing disturbance in the Nepalese society.
Tripartite agreement
Recruitment of Gurkha soldiers from Nepal into the India's Army has been governed by the Tripartite Agreement of 1947 under which Indian and British forces recruited Gurkha soldiers over the past 75 years. The Agnipath scheme, which is now the only mode of recruitment of soldiers into the Indian military, also applies to the Gurkhas. This short stint and the lack of pension are the main issues that the Nepalese authorities are expected to raise when General Pandey visits Kathmandu on September 4.
Nepal in the past had however expressed its desire to bring in changes to the Tripartite Agreement and turn it into two separate bilateral agreements between Nepal-U.K. and Nepal-India. As the Foreign Minister of Nepal under the previous Government of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli Mr. Gyawali had negotiated with the Government of U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May proposing that the modalities of recruitment of Gurkha soldiers for the British and the Indian Armies are separate and therefore should be delinked.
