KATHMANDU, June 17: Prime Minister KP Oli has indicated that the British government was not positive regarding Nepal's proposal to review the tripartite agreement concerning the British Gurkha soldiers.
Speaking at a press conference organized at the VVIP lounge of Tribhuvan International Airport upon his arrival from a week-long trip to Europe on Sunday, Prime Minister Oli said that the issue was not incorporated in the joint communiqué after the British side did not positively respond to Nepal's proposal.
Prime Minister Oli said that the tripartite agreement reached between Nepal, India and the UK back in 1947 does not properly reflect the current reality and that it needs to be reviewed in line with the changed context of the present day.
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“That agreement was reached when the regiments of our brothers known as British Gurkhas was divided. So, there is no need to continue with the tripartite arrangement. We can go for bilateral arrangement and we can review [of the treaty] it,” he said.
Prime Minister Oli said that Nepal is in favor of a complete review of the treaty.
“I also talked about this in the UK with Prime Minister Theresa May. I expressed our view regarding this issue,” he said.
Prime Minister Oli said that he raised the issue of reviewing the treaty as it no longer remains relevant now. “But only those issues that are agreeable to both the parties feature in the joint communiqué. The issues that are not agreeable to both the parties do not feature in the joint communiqué. This is natural,” he further said.
Prime Minister Oli, who left for Europe to participate in the Centenary Session of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva, also visited the UK and France during his tour. Speaking at the press conference, Prime Minister Oli said that his visit was highly successful.
“We remained highly active during the trip. We raised the issues related to our policies, achievements, necessities, and aspirations in every forum in a relevant way,” he said.
