+

Govt to write to US stating it won’t be part of SPP

File image: Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers

Kathmandu, June 21

The government has decided not to be a part of the United States-led State Partnership Program (SPP).

A meeting of the council of ministers on Monday decided to write to the United States of America that the country would not be a part of the SPP.

The government was facing widespread criticism after the copy of the draft agreement was made public. Political leaders, from both the ruling and opposition parties, were questioning if the government had planned to a be part of the programme that had instances of Nepal joining a military pact.

Many were believing that prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba would sign the agreement during his visit to the United States later in the year, but Deuba on June 15 clarified that he would not do so.

Then Chief of Army Staff, Rajendra Chhetri, in 2015, had asked the US Embassy to be a part of this programme.

Now, as the draft states that Nepal can choose not to be a part of it, the Deuba-led government was under pressure to tell the US that Nepal was not interested in the controversial project.

React to this post

Conversation

New Old Popular