KATHMANDU: Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa brushed aside claims that the government bowed down to ‘foreign pressure’ to make an agreement with CK Raut.

“Let me clarify that the agreement reached with CK Raut is purely our internal affair,” he said while responding to lawmakers’ queries in Sunday’s session of the House of Representatives (HoR).

Home Minister Thapa urged the lawmakers not to misinterpret the words and sentences used in the agreement. He refuted lawmakers’ claim that the 11-point agreement reached with CK Raut contained the word ‘referendum’. He termed the allegation as fake.

“The agreement, in fact, is a great achievement,” Thapa asserted while dismissing allegations that the government bowed down to a separatist force.

Home Minister Thapa said it is not the question of surrendering. “It is a matter of the country’s sovereignty and integrity, which we all should be proud of,” he maintained.