Indian Army Chief General Dhiraj Seth received a rare honor during his visit to Nepal. Nepalese President Ramchandra Paudel awarded him 'Honorary General' of the Nepalese Army at an official ceremony in Kathmandu on Monday. Nepal's Vice President Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav, Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava and senior Nepalese army and government officials were present at the ceremony. India and Nepal have a long tradition of conferring 'General' honors on each other's army chiefs. The question is, will the Gorkhas join the country's army again?
At the time of independence in 1947, India decided not to disband the Gorkha regiment. Britain took the same decision. Which is still valid today. So not only the Indian Army but also the British Army still has Gorkha regiments. There is also a tripartite agreement behind it. There are 32,000 Nepali soldiers in 39 battalions of 7 Gorkha regiments of the Indian Army. On the other hand, Britain's Gorkha regiment is a little over four thousand Nepali soldiers. But in 2020, recruitment to the Gorkha regiment was put on hold after the pandemic hit the world. That recruitment has not started yet.
Meanwhile, Nepali youths have demanded to include Nepal in India's 'Agniveer' project. Not only that, they are also on the way. Ex-Gorkha soldiers and their family members also joined them. However, the Government of NepalAgnivir' Do not want to join the project. Because, it is short term. This project is staffed for 4 years. In this situation, the Indian army chief went on a 4-day visit to Nepal on Sunday. Finally, the country's army will cut the Gorkha recruitment tangle? Time will answer.