Representatives of retired Gurkha soldiers, Nepal government officials and British government officials held a third round of talks to discuss pension and welfare benefits at the Ministry of Defence in London on Thursday.

Gurkha veterans said the talks were headed in a positive direction. The nearly 5-hour-long talks were held in two sessions—in the morning and afternoon. The Nepal government was represented by diplomats from the Nepali embassy in London.

According to the Nepali embassy, they discussed medical care, education, employment and various other welfare of the ex-Gurkha during the morning session, and pension issues were discussed in detail during the latter session.

The British representatives took keen interest in the demands of the Gurkha veterans and were open to further discussions, according to Ram Babu Nepal, Second Secretary at the Embassy of Nepal in London.

“After listening to the Embassy officials and the Gurkha representatives, the British officials said they would study the demands further and sit for another round of talks,” Nepal told Kantipur, the sister publication of the Post. The new date for talks will be fixed by the British government, according to Nepal.

Retired Major Jud Bahadur Gurung, who moderated on behalf of the ex-Gurkhas, said Thursday’s discussions were important and positive.

“Although the British authorities have admitted that more research would be needed to change the pension law, they have affirmed that there would be no problem in making necessary changes,” said Gurung.

While General Ratna Bahadur Godar, military attache of the Nepali Embassy, and Second Secretary Ram Babu Nepal led the Nepali delegations in the talk, the British side was represented by various members of the British Defense Ministry.

Three retired Gurkha Majors including Gurung, Tikendra Dal Dewan, and Uday Bahadur Gurung, along with Keshar Bahadur Gurung and Dharma Bahadur Tamang, represented the veterans.

The ex-Gurkha servicemen have been staging protests for a long time, demanding equal pay, pension and perks as their British counterparts.

Three Gurkha veterans even resorted to staging a hunger strike in August last year to pressure the British government to heed their demands. After the strike, the British side agreed to sit for talks.