Agnipath shadow over India-Nepal defence relations
CHIEF of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Upendra Dwivedi’s five-day visit to Nepal (November 20-24) — during which the honorary rank of General of the Nepal Army was conferred on him — was marked by efforts to improve military cooperation between the two countries. Sadly, unlike the pre-Agnipath times, the occasion attracted only routine attention in that country. A diplomatic void was created when India introduced restrictive terms of engagement under the Agnipath scheme in 2022, different from the traditional long-term service and pension in place since 1947. Nepal signalled its disapproval of the new arrangement, even as both sides have maintained a ‘diplomatic lull’, pushing the Indian Gorkha Brigade towards a cul-de-sac. Not a single Nepali Gorkha has been recruited since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Strangely, Gen Dwivedi arrived at Tribhuvan International Airport in a Bhutan Air flight; in better times, chiefs would come in an IAF aircraft. Still, pomp and ceremony were provided by the Nepal Army. Its second Brahmin Army Chief, Gen Ashok Sigdel, hosted a private dinner for the Dwivedis. Nepali Army Chiefs have traditionally been Ranas, Chhetri Thapas and Thakuris.
President Ram Chandra Paudel conferred the honorary rank of General on Gen Dwivedi, a ritual introduced in 1969 by then Army Chief, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, popularly known as Sam Bahadur. He created a Gorkha cell in the Army headquarters and initiated welfare measures, including treks by young Gorkha officers to recruitment areas of Nepal. Gen Sigdel will shortly visit New Delhi for an ‘exchange ceremony’ and will be feted just like Gen Dwivedi.
Gen Dwivedi also flew to Pokhara, the hub of Gorkha ex-servicemen, who number 1.25 lakh. He addressed Gorkha veterans about welfare measures, steering clear of Agnipath. He flew to Muktinath Temple, where he rang the Bipin Bell installed by late COAS Gen Bipin Rawat, who was from the Gorkha regiment. Gen Dwivedi’s predecessor, Gen Manoj Pande, when asked by Indian journalists after a similar visit to Nepal in 2023 about the future of Gorkha recruitment, had said: “If Nepal does not send Gorkhas, their vacancies will be given to others (non-Gorkhas)”. That is precisely what is happening to fill the manpower shortfall from Nepal in 39 Gorkha battalions with Kumaonis, Garhwalis, Nagas and other hill tribes. A Gorkha battalion has 60 and 40 per cent Nepali and Indian-domiciled Gorkhas, respectively.
In Pokhara, I met several ex-servicemen who expressed concern over the OROP (One Rank, One Pension) — which, after the five-year review, has increased the pension mainly below and including Havildar rank — and Agnipath. They want their wards to join Agnipath as the last resort — due to 25 per cent re-enlistment even after four years’ engagement — saying: “Something is better than nothing”. A few even suggested taking the matter to court. Delegations of ex-servicemen have presented petitions to Chief District Officers in 77 districts of Nepal and met ministers who have maintained silence on Agnipath.
Nepali journalists asked me how the stalemate could be broken. My view is that Nepal and India should immediately start a dialogue on Agnipath — which neither side has raised during bilateral talks. I suggested that India should make an exception for Nepal — ideally exempt it from Agnipath (as certain specialists in technical and medical units have been) or at least raise the terms of engagement for Nepali Gorkhas to seven years and 50 per cent retention. A general review of Agnipath is in progress.
Agnipath does not create a level playing field for Nepali Gorkhas. Nepal’s economy is small; its nationals have been barred since the 1970s from joining India’s paramilitary forces, which have reserved jobs for demobilised Indian Agniveers. Nepal fears that demobilised soldiers will be an easy catch for dormant insurgent groups. In Nepal’s Parliament, former ministers called India’s unilateral alteration to the terms of engagement a violation of the 1947 tripartite treaty on recruitment between Nepal, UK and India, which legally it is not. India could have been gentle and diplomatic about the bolt from the blue.
A Nepali ex-serviceman, who is also a politician, told me that India wants to terminate recruiting foreign nationals into its Army to undo the colonial legacy and also have leverage with Nepal. Many believe NSA Ajit Doval was the architect of the project. Nepali communist politicians have long wanted to stop recruitment in foreign armies, and as they represent the majority in Parliament, Agnipath appears to be a closed issue. This is not the first time India has sought to stop Gorkha recruitment. In the 1970s, a proposal was mooted but quickly rejected by then PM Indira Gandhi on the recommendation of then Army Chief Gen GG Bewoor, who belonged to 11 Gorkha Rifles. The present Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Anil Chauhan, was also with Gorkha Rifles.
The Nepal Army celebrates its Raising Day annually in Delhi, recalling joint India-Nepal military activities with an audio-visual presentation including PM Modi’s 2014 statement in Nepal’s Parliament: “In all the wars India has fought, Nepalis have shed their blood.” His words are the greatest tribute to Nepal and its Gorkhas. But the Agnipath scheme is a rollback of that strategic sentiment.
Some former Indian ambassadors to Nepal have asserted, many of them in writing, that Gorkha ex-servicemen in Nepal constitute a pro-India constituency at a time when China is buying up strategic space with Left-leaning Nepali governments. Gorkha ex-servicemen, at times, have acted as a foil to anti-India sentiments. The recruitment of Nepali Gorkhas is not simply the hiring of foreign soldiers but creating a strategic bond between two sovereign countries and providing a foundation for defence cooperation between their armies, which the two Army Chiefs periodically sanctify. Gen Dwivedi just did this. But with Nepal, India’s political leadership needs to go beyond rituals.
