KATHMANDU: Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Kelly Keiderling has arrived in Kathmandu Thursday afternoon.
She is scheduled to meet with Nepali officials and emerging civil society leaders during her stay in Nepal.
Kelly arrived in Kathmandu a day after the United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu landed in Kathmandu on Wednesday on a two-day visit to Nepal.
Their visit comes just ahead of the 75th year of diplomatic relations between the United States and Nepal.
As part of U.S. President Biden’s top priorities, they will address challenges like COVID-19, climate change, and strengthening democracies.
Earlier, Fatima Sumar, MCC vice president, visited Nepal and stressed that financial aid should not be made a political issue. She had said she was hopeful that Nepal would take a decision soon.
However, as the government has not taken any step to ratify the MCC from parliament, Secretary Lu will also try to understand Nepal’s position during his top-level meetings with political leadership here.
The US side is also of the view that it could not wait forever for Nepal’s parliamentary approval and the $500 million grant could be utilized by another country if Nepal could not decide on time.
There are deep differences within Nepal over the grant agreement to be spent on power transmission lines and road infrastructure.
There is disagreement within the ruling coalition over the implementation of the MCC grant agreement in its current framework and situation.
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba needs the support of the ruling coalition parties or the main opposition CPN-UML to get the agreement endorsed by parliament.
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