Recruitment of Gorkhas from Nepal to continue under 'Agnipath': MEA

New Delhi: India on Thursday said the Indian Army has been inducting Gorkha soldiers from Nepal for a long time and the exercise will continue under the newly launched Agnipath recruitment scheme.

The comments by External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi came amid some apprehensions in Nepal about the age-old induction of Nepali youths into the Indian Army in view of the rollout of the Agnipath scheme.

"We have been recruiting Gorkha soldiers into the Indian Army for a long time and we look forward to continuing recruiting Gorkha soldiers into the Indian Army under the Agnipath scheme," Bagchi said during the weekly media briefing.

The Indian Army's Gorkha regiments have 43 battalions and they comprise Indian soldiers as well as those recruited from Nepal.

The personnel to be recruited under the new scheme will be known as 'Agniveers'.