Kathmandu,
Dec. 25
Minister
for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said there was no dilemma about
ratifying the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) – a programme of the United
States of America extended to Nepal to develop a powerful cross-border electricity
transmission line and rehabilitation of strategic roads.
"The
government has decided to move forward with the agreement. Therefore, the
lawmakers need not to be confused about the implementation of the development
project," he said while speaking at the National Concern and Coordination
Committee of the National Assembly on Wednesday.
He
reiterated that the MCA was not the part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy of the US
government and the programme would be audited by the Nepal government. The
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was announced in 2004 while the IPS just
a couple of years ago.
"When
the country signed the agreement, it was witnessing political instability,
governments were not stable. Therefore, the donor might have sought the
parliament's ratification as the guarantee for the programme
implementation," said FM Gyawali. "Situation might have been
different if we had assured the US government that there wouldn't any decision
against the programme," he added.
According
to him, the government is firm on executing the programme and that's the final
decision.
He
stated that the implementation of the project like MCA would give a huge
message to the world. "MCA should also be taken as the culmination of the
political transition in Nepal. When the country should have facilitated the
project that is in the national interest, disputes on it will breed questions
on the credibility of the country itself," he said.
As
per our foreign policy, we won't be associated with any alliance of any
country, he said.
He
said that all political partied had agreed on MCA. The agreement was signed
when Nepali Congress was leading the government, its Finance Minister Gyanendra
Bahadur Karki had signed the agreement in Washington DC. The ruling partner
during that period was the erstwhile Maoist Centre, which is in the present
government after the merger with the CPN-UML.
FM
Gyawali said that some preliminary works as per the conditions set by the
programme had been performed. The government had formed an independent
mechanism, declared it as a national pride project.
The
committee members drew the attention of the government about deciding about the
programme at the earliest. Lawmaker Ramprit Paswan said that the MCC and IPS
were not related with each other. Another lawmaker Jiban Budha recommended
implementing the programme in a way that it would be a precedent for other
projects in the days to come.
As
the USD 630 million programme that included $500 million grant from the USA
pushed into the controversy after some parliamentarians raised questions on it
as being the part of the IPS, the MCA Nepal this week had organised a press
meet to clear the confusion.
It
had appealed to the parliament for the timely ratification of the MCC as the
delay in approving it from the legislature might delay the commencement of the
project set for 30 June next year.
Parliament's ratification is needed as per
the Vienna Convention on Law on Treaties between the States according to the
agreement signed between the governments of Nepal and the United States of
America.
"When the parliament ratifies it, the
programme will be implemented as a law which ensures smooth development,"
Khadga Bahadur Bisht, Executive Director of MCA-Nepal had said at the press
meet.
As per the agreement between the government
of Nepal and MCC – an agency of the United States of America, in September this
year, the programme must be completed within five years from the date of its
implementation and in case of inability to use up the budget, the remaining
money would go back to the US government.
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