Submit your Article

Peeved over the Nepalese Parliament’s approval of the US-funded USD 500 million grant agreement despite its persistent opposition, a concerned China said on Monday that Washington should not undermine the sovereignty of other countries through “coercive diplomacy”, The Print reported.

Much to the surprise of Beijing, Nepal’s Parliament on Sunday ratified the contentious US-funded USD 500 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact along with an Interpretive Declaration a day ahead of the February 28 deadline set by Washington, ending months of debates, protests and polarisation in the Himalayan nation.

“We noted the decision and the declaration by the Nepalese parliament,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing here in response to questions from the official media about the Interpretive Declaration, which was passed along with the US aid highlighting Nepal’s sovereignty.

Senior leader of the ruling Nepali Congress Ram Chandra Poudel has said that the declaration includes the statements that the MCC is not part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy, Nepal’s constitution will be above any provisions of the MCC and the country will perceive it purely as economic assistance.

“China has stressed repeatedly that international formal cooperation should follow the principle of mutual respect, equal treatment and fully respect the sovereignty of the country concerned and the will of its people,” Wang said.

“It should not interfere in other country’s internal affairs to engage in coercive diplomacy, undermine other sovereignty and interest out of selfish interests,” he said, adding that Beijing always supported Nepal choosing an independent path of development.

The MCC is a bilateral United States foreign aid agency established by the US Congress in 2004. It is an independent agency separate from the State Department and USAID.

The government has expressed its commitment not to allow Nepali land to be used against any nation.

A Cabinet meeting held on Monday thanked all the parties and lawmakers among others who helped endorse the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and said that the government would not allow Nepali land to be used against neighbouring countries or any nation.

The Cabinet made such a decision at a time when doubts were harbouring about the use of Nepali land against neighboring India and China after the endorsement of the MCC.

"Nepal is committed to not allow Nepali land to be used against India and China among other countries in line with foreign policy of Nepal to maintain friendly relations with all the countries," government spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said.

CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal expressed his happiness over the endorsement of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) with an interpretative declaration.

Speaking at a press conference organised at his residence in Khumaltar on Monday, he said, “I am very happy that the MCC has been endorsed from the Parliament. Now, the country has been saved from being driven into deep conflict.”

Dahal defended the proposals and stances put forward by him and the party earlier on the US aid project.

He said that the $500 million US grant project was dragged into the controversy after then Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Gyawali during his visit to the United States said that Nepal has also become a part of the Indo Pacific Strategy.

Chairman Dahal said that he floated an alternative to ratify the MCC by endorsing the resolution motion after the then taskforce of the Nepal Communist Party suggested that the MCC should not be passed in its current form. But, the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli ignored his idea, he claimed.

Dahal claimed that he had an agreement with Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba to table the resolution motion to pass the MCC.

“I had also suggested Nepali Congress and UML forge consensus to endorse the MCC to safeguard the constitution and the country,” he claimed.

Rasriya Janamorcha has decided to pull out of the five-party alliance.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the endorsement of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the Janamorcha concluded that it will have no meaning to stay in the coalition now.

Durga Paudel, who is the only lawmaker of the Janamorcha, stood against the $500 million grant agreement during the voting on the MCC held yesterday.

CPN (Maoist Centre), Nepali Congress, CPN (Unified Socialist) and Janata Samajbadi Party and Janamorcha had moved the court after the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli dissolved the House for the second time.

Janamorcha joined the alliance with an objective to institutionalise the democracy and change after the Supreme Court issued a mandamus order to appoint Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba as the Prime Minister of the country.

The party, however, had decided not to be a part of the government. Instead, the party decided to support the government from outside.