KATHMANDU: The US administration has warned that it will review its ties with Nepal if the $500 aid pledged under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was not ratified in Parliament. In separate telephone conversations with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN-UML chair K P Sharma Oli and Maoist Centre chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda,’ US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu said that Washington will review its relations with Nepal in the event of its failure to ratify the MCC compact from Parliament by February 28.
“Secretary of State Lu conveyed to Chairman Oli that the US will be forced to review its bilateral ties with Nepal if the MCC is not ratified by the given deadline set by Deuba and Dahal,” The Kathmandu Post quoted Rajan Bhattarai, the head of the UML’s Foreign Department, as saying. In response, Oli, according to Bhattarai, said that the US has been one of the biggest assistance partners of Nepal in various sectors for decades. Nepal signed the $500 million grant under the MCC facilities in 2017 but to the strong opposition from some communist parties including from Prachanda’s CPN-Maoist Center, the US aid has failed to execute and ratify from the house.
One of the clauses in the MCC agreement is to ratify it from Parliament for timely completion of the project in five years. Assistant Secretary Lu told the Nepali leaders that if the grant agreement did not move forward, the US would understand that China played a role in the South Asian country’s internal politics, resulting in indecision on MCC and its ultimate suspension. Prachanda, on his part, said that public opinion was divided on MCC and his party also had some objections. However, Secretary Lu communicated to Prachanda that the US would think that MCC was turned down owing to China’s pressure in Nepal.
