Certain messages regarding recruitment of Gorkhas 'fake', says Indian Army

New Delhi: The Indian Army, on Friday, tagged as 'fake' certain social media posts regarding the recruitment of Gorkhas in its cadre. Tagging as 'fake' a tweet - which said that the Army will be 'focusing on recruiting Gorkhas from Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and North East India', ADGPI, the official communications department of the Indian Army urged citizens to 'protect themselves from rumours'.

In a tweet, the ADGPI said that fake messages are being circulated on social media about the recruitment of Gorkhas from Nepal into the Indian Army.

Among others, the ADGPI tagged as 'fake' a tweet by an account named 'Baba Banarasi', which claimed that only '2 Gorkhas from Nepal (have been) recruited since 2017'. "We are focusing to recruit Gorkha soldiers in Gorkha Regiment from Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and North East India," the 'fake' tweet by the handle said.

Interestingly, the Army's clarification came a day after India announced that it will continue to recruit Gorkhas in the Indian Army under the Agnipath recruitment scheme. "We have been recruiting Gurkha soldiers to the Indian Army for a long time. We look forward to continuing to recruit Gurkha soldiers to the Indian Army under the Agnipath scheme," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during a routine press conference.

Indian Army has 43 regiments of Gorkha and they consist of Indian as well as Nepali soldiers. Questions were being raised regarding the continuation of recruitment from Nepal in light of the newly-announced Agnipath recruitment scheme.