Kathmandu: The Communist government in Nepal has decided not to allow the 1,300-odd Gorkhas to join the Indian Army in 2023. The predicament has been the newly launched four-year-service Agnipath (Fire Warriors) scheme of the Indian Army.
This is an apparent opportunity for Chinese government to exploit the Communist government in Nepal to create an anti-India sentiment in the Himalayan nation. For young people in Nepal, joining the Indian Army has been advantageous because the salary is 2.5 times more than in the Nepalese Army, and the pension offers both economic and social security. Nepalese nationals have the option to settle in India thanks to jobs in the Indian Army.
But, Agnipath changes that. There are seven Gorkha regiments in the Indian Army, with 40 battalions and a total of 40,000 soldiers, but only one-fourth of them are of Nepalese origin. There are 126,000 Gurkha pensioners of the Indian Army in Nepal, and there is an Indian Ex-servicemen Welfare Organization in Nepal working for retired army personnel.
“I really hope that the Nepal government will take a favorable view on it and start the recruitment process,” Lt Gen. DS Hooda (Retired) told the media. “The recruitment is mutually beneficial as it gives them employment, and the Gorkha veterans act as goodwill ambassadors between the two countries,” Hooda said.
China will not shy from exploiting the situation. The Gorkha soldiers have proved their mettle in the various wars India fought in 1947-48, 1965, and 1971 against Pakistan and the one against China in 1962. And an intrigued China funded a study in 2020 to find out what drives the Nepalese youth to join the Indian Army.
As the Maoist in Nepal got a say in the government process, the clamor against Nepalese youth joining the Indian Army has been rising. There have been demands that India should not post Nepalese Gorkha against China if there is a war.