Kathmandu, June 19
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has chosen not to attend the meeting of the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives that is discussing the US-proposed State Partnership Program.
The committee asked Sher Bahadur Deuba, who also leads the Ministry of Defence, to attend the meeting to discuss the SPP program and if Nepal was taking part in a military alliance. But, Deuba’s secretariat told the committee that he would not be able to attend the meeting, informs the chair of the committee Pabitra Niraula Kharel.
Kharel says the prime minister disrespected the committee by not being present. She adds that Deuba had said he would attend the meeting on Saturday night but his personal secretary, Bhanu Deuba, informed the committee on Sunday morning that Deuba would not be attending the meeting.
The committee meeting on Friday had decided to discuss the issue with the prime minister. Foreign Affairs Minister Narayan Khadka and Chief of Army Staff Prabhu Ram Sharma told the meeting that Nepal was not involved in any kind of military alliance. The committee has also said that Nepal needs to tell the US that it will not be part of a military alliance.
