Kathmandu, July 26
The United States Ambassador to Nepal, Randy Berry, has expressed his concerns over delay in endorsing from the Federal Parliament the Millennium Challenge Corporation grant signed between the two countries three years ago.
The agreement has not been implemented yet waiting for the parliamentary endorsement. The legislative body is unlikely to endorse the document anytime soon owing to a serious division in the ruling Nepali Communist Party about the document.
In this context, Berry met Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Ishwar Pokharel, who is also a central leader of the ruling party, on Sunday and expressed his concerns over the delay, according to a source privy to the meeting.
During the meeting, Berry also wondered why Nepal chose to end the lockdown imposed to control the coronavirus outbreak in the country, the Defence Ministry spokesperson Dal Bahadur Sunar informs. In response, DPM Pokharel said the national-level lockdown was lifted, but local governments were authorised to impose lockdown on their own if need be.
