KATHMANDU: A Nepali Gurkha who won Britain’s highest military honour left Kathmandu for Britain on Tuesday after British officials reversed a decision and allowed him to settle in the country.

Famed for their fierceness, loyalty and razor-sharp kukhuri fighting knives, Nepali Gurkas have been serving in the British army since 1815, but veterans have long complained of discrimination in pensions and other rights.

“I will continue to fight until all Gurkhas get equal rights,” the frail 84-year-old Tul Bahadur Pun said on his departure from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport.

Pun, awarded the Victoria Cross for single handedly storming a Japanese machine gun position in Burma in 1945, initially had his settlement visa application for Britain rejected.

His bravery had won him an invitation to Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 and he had tea with her mother, queen Elizabeth.

But Britain's Home Office told him: “You have failed to demonstrate that you have strong ties with the UK.” Pun wanted to come to Britain for medical treatment which was difficult to obtain from his remote hut in Nepal.—AFP