China's Interest in Recruiting Gorkha Regiments Poses Concerns for India-Nepal Relations

• China is reportedly interested in recruiting its own Gorkha regiment, similar to the renowned Gorkha regiments in the Indian army.
• Nepal, a small Himalayan nation located between India and China, has historically provided a significant number of Gorkha troops to the Indian army.
• Nepal's government has halted the recruitment of Gorkha troops by India due to concerns over a new recruitment scheme that offers uncertain job prospects for Nepali recruits.
• China has been studying why Nepali youth are drawn to the Indian army and has been increasing its investments and trade relations with Nepal.
• If China succeeds in recruiting its own Gorkha troops, it could strain the relationship between India and Nepal and potentially lead to a conflict between Indian and Nepali Gorkha regiments.

Now let's turn our Focus to Nepal it's a small Himalayan nation of about 30 million people it's wedged between two highly populated behemoths India and China Nepal is prized for its labor force among other things specifically its military Manpower.

We're talking about the famed gorkha regiments from the days of British colonization the gorkha people of Nepal and India have made a name for themselves as able Warriors it's honestly a mixture of Martial Traditions job opportunities and a hint of British racist thinking but that mixture has resulted in a legendary reputation for the famed gorkha regiments in the Indian army and for years now China has coveted this military connection this year China is reportedly keen on recruiting its own gorkha regiment and the alarming part is this it may get the chance to do it because Nepal's government has told India's annual recruitment of gorkha troops why is this happening our next report brings you the details

The landlocked nation of Nepal is at a Crossroads almost literally when looking at its geography it sits high in the Himalayas between India and China the nation of 30 million is heavily dependent on its neighbors for everything from supplies to employment where do the Nepali seek jobs outside their country in a variety of fields but there is one historical employment Avenue the Indian army the Indian army has something called the gorkha regimens.

These were created during the British Raj the British had a racist Trope about martial races that could be used to fill the colonial armies and the gorkhas were considered a prominent martial race gokha people from both Nepal and India were recruited after India became independent in 1947 there was a question about the gorkha regiments what would be done with them Nepal India and Britain came up with the tripartite agreement under it the UK retained four gorkha regiments India kept six and Nepal's gorkha people would be readily recruited by the two Nations seven decades later Gorka troops still hold a place of honor in the Indian army and deservedly so over the course of decades the Gorka regiments have proved invaluable.

They have served with distinction during all of India's Wars of course it isn't a one-way Street the Indian Army Recruiting gorkha soldiers has helped Nepal too it provides employment for rural areas retired soldiers earn a good pension the Indian army runs a welfare Organization for its former troops as well overall it's a time-tested way to maintain good economic and social ties between the two countries but this hallowed tradition may be at risk this year Nepal might not send gorkha troops to the Indian army the government in Kathmandu has stole recruitments the reason they've given is India's agneepath scheme it's a new Armed Forces Recruitment scheme brought in by the Indian government last year under this recruits will have a trial period of swords for four years after that only a fourth of the troops will be absorbed into the Indian army the Indian government brought this scheme to try and curb its Armed Forces pension bill but it means there's no guarantee that Nepal's famed gorkha troops will get a job this has upset Kathmandu so gorkha regiment recruitments have been stopped but you may Wonder one out of four recruits is still better than none why would Nepal hold. 

The entire process well the answer might be Nepal's Northern neighbor China has been eyeing gorkha regiments of its own for years but beijing's past attempts were always rebuffed in 2020 Beijing conducted studies to see why Nepal's youth were drawn to the Indian army in particular it wanted to know what the compensation was like China has been trying to boo Nepal's government as well it's steadily investing in Nepal and facilitating trade and technology and now with the agneepath spat China's time May finally have come the entire scenario may end with Beijing finally getting its own gorkha troops and that would be a blow to India Nepal ties it would be a great shame for Indian and Nepali gorkha regimens to one day face off against each other