KATHMANDU: CPN-Unified Socialist Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal has said the issue of Gurkha soldiers’ recruitment should be finalized.

Speaking at a meeting of the International Relations Committee (IRC) of parliament on Monday, Chairman Nepal said that the government should accord high priority towards resolving the problems of ex-Gurkha soldiers. “It’s not just a matter of pensions and other benefits provided by the British government,” he said, adding, “We should also settle the issue of Gurkhas recruitment.”

Stating that Nepali went for labor or security in the countries with which Nepal reached an agreement, he said, “We have to end the situation in which other nations recruit Nepalis, deploy them elsewhere and take benefit as intermediary.”

Terming the 1948 agreement meaningless, he stressed the need for a new agreement.