Treaties & agreements · 1947

Britain–India–Nepal Tripartite Agreement (Gurkha recruitment)

MilitaryIn force

Signed

1947

9 November 1947, Kathmandu

Parties

Nepal · United Kingdom · India

What the agreement says

The substantive terms, article by article where the structure allows.

Four regiments — the 2nd, 6th, 7th and 10th Gurkha Rifles — were offered for transfer to the British Army, with serving soldiers opting in by referendum; the other six regiments (1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th) remained in the new Indian Army.
Nepal agreed that the UK could employ Gurkhas up to the strength of eight battalions (or equivalent) at peacetime strength.
The UK agreed to base Gurkha pay on the corresponding Indian pay codes and rates, plus an overseas allowance; India agreed to provide supporting services — currency, postal facilities, foodstuffs, transit — and temporary use of the recruiting depots at Gorakhpur and Ghum.
Service principles attributed to the agreement and its annexes hold that Gurkhas are recruited, serve and are resettled as Nepali citizens, that their religious and cultural observances are preserved, that they are integrated soldiers of the army they join — never mercenaries — and that they receive long home leave in Nepal at regular intervals.
The core text stipulates that perks, remuneration and pensions for Nepalis serving in the British and Indian armies should be on par with those of British and Indian nationals — the clause at the root of the Gurkha justice movement.

The full story

How it came about — and what it means

When British India split in August 1947, the Brigade of Gurkhas — by then an institution dating to the first recruitment of 1815 — had to be divided between two successor employers. The tripartite negotiations settled the matter in barely three months, concluding in Kathmandu on 9 November 1947, as confirmed in the House of Commons statement by Defence Minister A. V. Alexander that December. A referendum asked serving Gurkhas of the four transferring regiments whether they wished to join the British Army, with service in Malaya and Hong Kong, or stay with India; the results surprised the British, with large numbers opting for India or discharge, but the four regiments transferred and became the British Brigade of Gurkhas.

The agreement is among the most unusual military instruments in the world: a sovereign state consenting, by treaty, to the recruitment of its citizens into two foreign armies, with conditions designed to protect their nationality, religion and dignity. For Nepal the deal institutionalised what was already a pillar of its economy and diplomacy — remittances, pensions and the goodwill of two great powers. Indian Army pensions paid into Nepal remain one of the largest single financial flows between the two countries.

The agreement's pay-parity language is the root of the long-running Gurkha justice movement in Britain. Britain paid British Gurkhas on the lower Indian pay-code basis for decades; equal salaries and pensions were instituted only from 2007, and pensions for pre-1997 retirees remain contested — campaigns by veterans, most visibly with actress Joanna Lumley in 2008–09 over settlement rights, forced equal treatment for post-1997 service, and hunger strikes outside Downing Street recurred into the 2020s. Nepali politicians across parties periodically demand the agreement's revision or abolition — the Maoists' 40-point demand of 1996 called for an end to Gurkha recruitment altogether — yet successive governments have preserved it, a measure of how deeply the Gurkha connection is woven into Nepal's economy and identity. Nepal formally proposed a review in a letter to London on 12 February 2020, following PM K.P. Sharma Oli's raising of the issue with PM Theresa May in June 2019.

What followed

Consequences & legacy

The Brigade of Gurkhas became a permanent institution of the British Army, while India's Gorkha Rifles regiments continued in the Indian Army — both still recruiting in Nepal under this framework.
Equal salaries and pensions for British Gurkhas were instituted from 2007 after decades on the lower Indian pay-code basis; pre-1997 retirees' pensions remain contested.
Nepal's 12 February 2020 letter to London formally proposed a review of the agreement as outdated; the agreement nonetheless remains in effect.

The disputes

Controversies

Despite the pay-parity stipulation, Britain paid its Gurkhas on the lower Indian pay-code basis for decades — the central grievance of the Gurkha justice campaigns and recurring hunger strikes in London.
The Maoists' 40-point demand of February 1996, which preceded the civil war, demanded an end to foreign Gurkha recruitment altogether.

← Earlier agreementNepal–Britain Treaty of Friendship, 19231923 Later agreement →Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship1950

Common questions

Britain–India–Nepal Tripartite Agreement (Gurkha recruitment): FAQ

When was the Britain–India–Nepal Tripartite Agreement (Gurkha recruitment) signed?+

The Britain–India–Nepal Tripartite Agreement (Gurkha recruitment) was signed on 9 November 1947, Kathmandu.

Who were the parties to the Britain–India–Nepal Tripartite Agreement (Gurkha recruitment)?+

The parties were Nepal and United Kingdom and India.

What did the Britain–India–Nepal Tripartite Agreement (Gurkha recruitment) establish?+

The agreement that divided the ten Gurkha regiments of the British Indian Army at independence — four to Britain, six to India — and set the terms under which Nepali citizens still serve in two foreign armies. Nepal formally proposed a review in 2020, calling it outdated, but it continues to govern recruitment. A core provision: Four regiments — the 2nd, 6th, 7th and 10th Gurkha Rifles — were offered for transfer to the British Army, with serving soldiers opting in by referendum; the other six regiments (1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th) remained in the new Indian Army.

Is the Britain–India–Nepal Tripartite Agreement (Gurkha recruitment) still in force today?+

Yes. The Britain–India–Nepal Tripartite Agreement (Gurkha recruitment) is classed as "In force" and remains operative today.

Sources & data note

Dates, terms and figures for the Britain–India–Nepal Tripartite Agreement (Gurkha recruitment) as documented by the listed sources. Where credible sources disagree, the discrepancy is stated on this page rather than silently resolved.