‘MCC inevitable for Nepal’s physical infrastructure development’

Kathmandu : Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has said that the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact agreement signed by the government of Nepal with the US government should not be described in a critical framework.

Organizing a news conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, Minister Gyawali said that MCC was supportive to translate our national aspirations of ‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali’ adding that some light comments to be made without the objective analysis of the MCC projects and their contributions to Nepal’s infrastructure development and prosperity would affect the nation’s broader interests.

On the occasion, he said that it was needed to review the contributions made by the MCC projects in Nepal’s development efforts. The Foreign Affairs Minister also argued that MCC was inevitable for poverty reduction and to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Saying that the government has registered the MCC agreement in the Parliament aiming to ratify it from the ongoing House session, Gyawali expressed his confidence about its ratification from the Parliament. Similarly, Minister Gyawali said Nepal government was committed to troubleshoot the border dispute with India through diplomatic ways.

He added preparations were ongoing to hold talks with India over the same issue, as response of Nepal’s diplomatic note has been received from India. “Its contents cannot be made public. We will have formal dialogue at the earliest,” he shared.

Moreover, he said that the current government was working to further strengthen the Nepal-India ties.

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