UK positive to provide visas to children of ex-Gurkha

By Karun Aryal, London, Sept. 14: The United Kingdom (UK) has been positive about granting the children of the retired Gurkha soldiers residential visas to remain in the UK if they are under the age of 18 at the time of their parent's retirement.

The British side seemed open to the demand in Monday's meeting of the technical committee formed as part of the efforts made by the British and Nepali governments to solve the problems being faced by former Gurkha soldiers, informed retired Gurkha Jud Bahadur Gurung. 

Gurung also said that they made it clear that pension was their main issue. "The UK side has said they will get back with details after consulting with the minister," he said.

The Embassy of Nepal in London also confirmed that a technical-level meeting was held between the embassy officials, the UK's Ministry of Defence and representatives of former Gurkha soldiers to address the demands of the ex-soldiers.

Monday's meeting also touched upon issues of the Welfare Fund and goodwill payments. British Defence Ministry officials said that they would take the Gurkha's demands to the relevant offices and carry out internal discussions.

The Government of Nepal was represented by Deputy Chief of Mission of the Nepali embassy Roshan Khanal and Military Attaché Brigadier General Ratna Bahadur Godhar.

 The former Gurkha soldiers were represented by Jud Bahadur Gurung, Dharma Bahadur Tamang, Pushpa Rana Ghale, Dhan Bahadur Gurung and Saindra KC Thapa.

 Meanwhile, officials from the Ministry of Defence, Home Office, Treasury and other relevant personnel attended from the side of the British government.