KATHMANDU: At a time when a section of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) is skeptical over what it says the ‘intention’ of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the government is all set to table the widely-debated MCC in the parliament with the confidence of endorsing it.
If Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gokul Baskota’s confidence about endorsing it from parliament is to be taken into account, MCC will be endorsed, undoubtedly.
Ruminate how he challenged the ‘faultfinders’ to point out the clause that says MCC is related to military affairs, has any link with the US’ Indo-Pacific Strategy or has some hidden purpose at a regular press briefing yesterday.
Minister Baskota, in a confirmatory tone, asserted that MCC Compact would be presented to the full House ‘soon’, and will be endorsed.
“I understand that the party is divided over the issue as NCP has diverse thoughts and ideologies,” he said while making it clear that the government will present the MCC Compact in the parliament, which becomes quite evident that there will be no looking back now.
Minister Baskota seemed to be a bit contemptuous toward a faction inside the NCP that has been quite judgmental on the MCC Compact. By saying so, he was hinting at the political report presented at the party’s central committee meeting in which the MCC Compact was a part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy.
He was also categorical to affirm that the government has a single policy, and different ideologies have no place in the government.
While the MCC, as claimed by Minister Baskota, has already entered the parliamentary process, the MCC Nepal Compact, too, has published 24-page-long information clarifying that no conditions in it are against the spirit of the Constitution of Nepal.
According to the MCC Nepal Compact, the Electricity Transmission Project and the Road Maintenance Project under it are priorities set by Nepal.
Consider what Dr. Shankar Sharma, former ambassador to the United States, has to say: “MCC is currently in implementation in 29 countries of the world, and the remarkable fact is that several countries entertaining MCC grant do not belong to the Indo-Pacific region.”
It should be noted that Nepal had formally requested an MCC grant back in 2012 when Dr. Sharma was the ambassador to the US.
He has also clarified that there was no relationship between MCC and the Indo Pacific Strategy as it had come into existence only in December 2017 which was even after Nepal signed the MCC. Moreover, he sees nothing wrong endorsing it.
Nepal and the United States signed a $500 million compact to spur economic growth and reduce poverty in Nepal on September 14, 2017.
According to the MCC Nepal Compact, it aims at strengthening Nepal’s energy sector, improve regional energy connectivity, and control transportation costs to encourage growth and private investment.
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