India may be forced to withdraw quota for enlisting Nepalese troops: Army Chief

Vishal Thapar Sep 15, 2022

India may be forced to reallocate the quota for recruiting Nepalese soldiers into the Gurkha Regiments of the Indian Army if Nepal does not take a decision on allowing enlistment of its citizens under the Agnipath scheme in the current recruitment calendar.

Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande said on September 14 that vacancies allocated to Nepalese Gurkhas will have to be “redistributed” to others for the time being if Kathmandu does not allow recruitment rallies as per the laid-down cut-off dates. He made these remarks while responding to a question at the United Services Institution of India in New Delhi.

Nepal has put on hold recruitment under the Agnipath scheme, the enlistment process for which was to commence on August 25. This is in opposition to the enlistment of soldiers for only four years as against the earlier practice of at least 15 years of colour service which entitled the soldiers to pensions and ex-servicemen’s benefits.

Under a new recruitment policy rolled out for the Indian armed forces in June, 75 per cent of short-term enlisted soldiers are to be demoblised after four years of service and will not be entitled to pension and benefits.

An impasse on the recruitment of Nepalese soldiers may snowball into a diplomatic issue between Kathmandu and New Delhi.

The Indian Army began recruiting Nepalese Gurkhas under a tripartite agreement signed among India, Nepal and the UK in 1947. At present, there are about 30,000 Nepalese citizens serving in the Indian Army’s seven Gurkha Rifles regiments. About 130,000 pensioners of the Indian Army are Nepalese citizens. Over the years, recruitment into the Gurkha regiments is being balanced with Indian Gurkhas, who now constitute approximately 40 per cent of troop strength in Gurkha units. Annual intake of Nepalese Gurkhas has gradually come down from 4,000 to about around 1,500 in the years preceding the Agnipath scheme.

Recruitment of Nepalese troops into the Indian Army symbolises fraternal bonds between the two countries which have come under stress in recent year because of the Chinese competition for influence in Kathmandu.

Currently, there’s pressure on the Indian Army to fill billets quickly after a two-year recruitment pause on account of the Covid Pandemic. The Army has planned recruitment of 40,000 Agniveers from across the country and neighbouring Nepal in two batches this year. Training of 25,000 troops is scheduled to commence in December, and for the second lot in February.

“As per my sense, Nepal is unlikely to take any decision before the general elections in the country on November 20,” General Pande was quoted as saying, while reflecting on the politics over the recruitment into the Indian Army in the Himalayan country.

“It’s a decision for them (Nepal) to take,” the Army chief said, adding that India had explained the “benefits” for the 75 per cent of the young soldiers to be demobilised after four years with the Seva Nidhi exit package of Rs 11,70,000 lakh per soldier.

Meanwhile, the visiting Nepalese Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal called on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on September 14 for a review of bilateral relations.