KATHMANDU: The British government has set up a negotiating committee to discuss the demands of ex-Gurkha soldiers retiring from the British Army.
Roshan Khanal, Deputy Chief of Mission and Spokesperson of the Nepali Embassy in London, said that the British government had informed in writing that a negotiating committee had been formed under the coordination of Leo Docherty, Assistant Minister for Veterans Affairs.
Khanal said, “A meeting will be held within three weeks to discuss the modalities of the talks.”
Earlier, the Nepal government had formed a committee under the coordination of Nepal’s Ambassador to the UK Gyan Chandra Acharya to hold talks with the British government on the issue of ex-Gurkha soldiers.
In August last year, the British government agreed to form a negotiating committee to address the demands of former Gurkhas Gyan Raj Rai, Dhan Gurung, and Pushpa Rana Ghale, a member of the Gurkha family, who went stated a 13-day hunger strike near the British Prime Minister’s Office in London.
Gurkha soldiers who retired before 1997 have been protesting for a long time, demanding the same pensions as British soldiers.
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