Considering Joule heating caused by the dissipation of the magnetic field in the neutron star crust to be an efficient mechanism in maintaining a relatively high surface temperature in very old neutron stars, the role of general relativity is investigated. It is found that, although the effect of space-time curvature produced by the intense gravitational field of the star slows down the decay rate of the magnetic field, modification of the initial magnetic field configuration and the initial

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... ld strength by the space-time curvature results in increasing the rate of Joule heating. Hence the space-time curvature supports Joule heating in maintaining a relatively high surface temperature which is consistent with the bservational detection.