Kathmandu, December 25
Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has reiterated that casting doubts about the Millenium Challenge Corporation grant that the United States government has pledged to Nepal is not necessary because the deal is not related to the controversial Indo-Pacific Strategy.
Minister Gyawali’s statement follows the comments of some leaders of his own Nepal Communist Party that the US wanted to woo Nepal to support the strategy with the grant assurance. The divided NCP standing committee has recently decided to ask the government to talk with the US about the grant.
Speaking in a meeting of National Concerns and Coordination Committee in the National Assembly on Wednesday, the minister claimed that the MCC grant agreement was signed in 2017 whereas discussions about the strategy also began in the same year.
He said the government was confident that the ongoing session of the Federal Parliament would endorse the deal, taking it one step forward towards the implementation.
