'Agnipath' issue on hold till election

 Kathmandu, Sept. 15

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said on Thursday that the government has decided to put the issue of Agnipath scheme of the Indian Army on hold till the upcoming general elections.

“Gorkha recruitment for Agnipath scheme is on hold till the elections. New government formed after the election on November 20 will take decision about it,” Sewa Lamsal, Spokesperson of the MoFA, said at a press briefing at the ministry.

According to her, the govt doesn't want immediate discussion or dialogue about the recruitment scheme of the Indian government.

The reaction of the government has come following the statement by the Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande the other day, according to Times of India, that India might be forced to withdraw vacancies for enlisting soldiers from Nepal under its new Agnipath scheme in the ongoing recruitment cycle if the latter did not take decision in time.

Earlier, Indian Gorkha Regiment had planned to recruit Nepali youth for the scheme on August 25 in Butwal and September 1 in Dharan.

Nepal had said that it did not know about the short-term recruitment process under the new scheme. The Modi government had launched the scheme on June 14 with the aim to recruit 46,000 soldiers for a period of four years, following which they will be returned to the society and can pursue any career of their choice.

Meanwhile, Lamsal said that the border points with China are expected to come into full operation soon. “We hope that the border opened with the visit of the Chairman of Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China Li Zhanshu will come into full function before Dashain,” she said.

According to her, China had closed the border entry points to Nepal due to COVID-19 pandemic in Tibet and landslides along the road in Tibet connecting Nepal border. The MoFA said that there was need to increase the export trade to China through the northern border.

Likewise, it said that there were complexities and political problems in reviving the SAARC process that has been on hold for quite a few years now.
"The SAARC as a community has not made much progress. We have sent relief materials to Pakistan and elsewhere but such events are happening at the bilateral level. As a community, there have not been any activities through the SAARC platform," said Lamsal

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 16 September 2022.