Victoria Nuland, United States of America’s undersecretary of State for Political Affairs arrived in Nepal on Sunday on a two-day official visit.
She spent Monday meeting top political leaders. She met with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Foreign Minister Bimala Paudel, CPN-UML chairman KP Oli and Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba.
“The US looks forward to deepening over 75 years of ties to promote our shared interests in inclusive development, democracy and human rights,” she said in the tweet after meeting with the PM at the Prime Minister’s official residence at Baluwatar.
Nuland also paid a courtesy call to Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Bimala Rai Paudyal at her office in Singha Durbar.
On the occasion, both sides discussed various urgent global issues and matters relating to Nepal-USA ties. Minister Paudyal further thanked the US government for the support it provided to Nepal during the 2015 earthquake and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The meeting with Oli focused on bolstering Nepal’s democratic resiliency and strengthening the country’s economy through partnerships with the foreign assistance agency MCC.
The meeting with Deuba touched on issues including the promotion of bilateral relations, democracy, development and good governance. the United States of America plans to invest over US$ 1 billion in Nepal over the next five years.
Speaking at a press conference in Lalitpur on Monday, the US undersecretary of state for Political Affairs said that America was looking to invest in sectors including green energy and small and medium enterprises led by women and people from indigenous communities.
The conference was organised at the Patan Durbar Square after undersecretary Nuland’s meeting with the Prime Minister and other leaders.
In those meetings, Nuland said that she talked about the steps to be taken for the implementation of the grant assistance Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the finalisation of Nepal’s transitional justice process, the development of an investment-friendly climate and corruption reduction.
Nuland is the first high-level official from the United States to visit the country since the formation of the present government at the end of last month. And many have raised why the American official visited Nepal immediately after the formation of the new government in Nepal.
Obviously, the USA through the visit wanted to give a message that the USA would be with the government of Nepal. It is widely believed that Pushpa Kamal Dahal became the new PM in a dramatic development with the backing of China. And the USA does want to have its strong presence in Nepal to check the activities of China. Again, Nepal is now implementing MCC, the American grant despite strong opposition from China. The visit of Nuland proves the geopolitical and strategic importance of Nepal. The Nepali leaders should therefore be careful to maintain Nepal’s neutrality by maintaining a balanced foreign policy while utilizing foreign aid for the development of the country.
reproduced from People’s Review
