{"id":6150,"date":"2025-07-17T15:33:34","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T15:33:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radiorhinonews.com\/?p=6150"},"modified":"2025-07-17T15:38:53","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T15:38:53","slug":"nepalese-women-want-to-join-british-army-nepal-says-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiorhinonews.com\/?p=6150","title":{"rendered":"Nepalese women want to join British Army ; Nepal says ‘NO’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Without Nepal\u2019s decision, the British can\u2019t take in female Gurkhas to serve them. Many doubt family\u2019s permission for these young women to serve in a foreign army will come easy either.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

BY : Ellie Davis for The Kathmandu Post<\/h3>\n

Kathmandu\/ Seventeen-year-old Kanchan Thapa Magar is the only female trainee among 70 students at the Salute Gorkha Training Center in Kathmandu. While her male peers have a shot at joining the British Army\u2019s prestigious Gurkha Brigade, Kanchan does not. The opportunity isn\u2019t available to women.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think boys and girls are the same,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to go abroad too, but I can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each year, around 12,000 Nepali men vie to become British Gurkhas, but only 200 to 400 are selected after grueling physical and mental tests. According to Rahul Pandey, CEO of the training center, the standards for Gurkha hopefuls far exceed those required for entry into Nepal\u2019s own armed forces.<\/p>\n

In 2018, the UK Ministry of Defence announced plans to recruit Nepali women into the Gurkhas. But the move was blocked in early 2019 by Nepal\u2019s House of Representatives Committee on International Relations. The committee ruled that Nepali women could not be recruited into foreign militaries without explicit approval from the Nepal government.<\/p>\n

Since then, there has been little progress. While British Defence Minister Luke Pollard recently expressed renewed interest in including women in the Gurkha ranks, Nepal\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has declined to comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UK\u2019s interest in female recruitment reflects a long-standing policy goal,\u201d stated the British Embassy in Kathmandu. \u201cBut any change must be in partnership with the Government of Nepal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pandey remembers training 45 hopeful young women in 2019 when the UK\u2019s announcement raised hopes. \u201cWhen the decision was reversed, many were devastated,\u201d he said. \u201cMost went on to join the Nepal Army or pursue further education.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reason behind Nepal\u2019s parliamentary decision remains unclear. Future policy changes must again come from the International Relations Committee, said under-secretary Sharada Bhandari. However, no timeline has been given.<\/p>\n

Pandey believes the women lost out on life-changing opportunities. \u201cThe British Army offers stability, good pay, and respect,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is about equal opportunity in action\u2014not just slogans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf women can study abroad, why not serve abroad?\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Young Nepali women continue to show growing interest in military careers. Elisa Bastola, 18, is training at Dima Academy and aspires to be a pilot in the Nepal Army. \u201cThe military offers freedom and independence,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can live on your own terms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simran Maharjan, 19, and Khusi Maya Thapa, also 19, are preparing to join the Nepal Army. Both said they would eagerly pursue the British Army route if allowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course I\u2019d go, if there was a chance,\u201d said Simran.<\/p>\n

Khusi, who recently passed her Nepal Army eligibility test, added, \u201cHaving that choice would mean a lot. Right now, we hardly get any opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, even if the Nepali government gave the green light, cultural challenges remain. \u201cSome women have to fight their families just to join the Nepal Army,\u201d Kanchan said. \u201cHow will they convince them to let them go abroad?\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the obstacles, Kanchan is determined. She turns 18 in May and is ready to continue training. \u201cBecause I\u2019m interested, the training feels easy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Without Nepal\u2019s decision, the British can\u2019t take in female Gurkhas to serve them. Many doubt family\u2019s permission for these young women to serve in a foreign army will come easy either. BY : Ellie Davis for The Kathmandu Post Kathmandu\/ Seventeen-year-old Kanchan Thapa Magar is the only female trainee among 70 students at the Salute<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images2.imgbox.com\/8b\/af\/PNnWvJ02_o.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[131,114],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6150","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-english","8":"category-nepal-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiorhinonews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiorhinonews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiorhinonews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiorhinonews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiorhinonews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6150"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/radiorhinonews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6155,"href":"https:\/\/radiorhinonews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6150\/revisions\/6155"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiorhinonews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiorhinonews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiorhinonews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiorhinonews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}