November 21: The United States has urged Nepal to take concrete decisions on the controversial Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) pact before December 14. During his recent visit to Nepal, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu urged the government to ratify the MCC at the earliest.

US officials have been piling pressure on Nepal to take a quick decision on whether to accept the MCC grant or not. They have urged the Prime Minister and the top political leaders to take a firm decision on MCC and ratify it through the parliament for the implementation of the agreement.

The visit of the high-level delegation led by Lu comes about a after the official visit of MCC Vice President Fatima Sumar seeking endorsement of the pact.

Lu has made it clear that the US government would have no objection even if the MCC is rejected. "It is up to the government of Nepal and the Parliament to decide whether to pass the MCC or not. We want the government to approve it and move forward,” Lu said while talking to media persons in Kathmandu on November 19 before wrapping up his visit. 

Lu said that if the MCC Compact is not approved, it will be given to some other country. Several countries are looking for the grant. Meanwhile, the Nepalese government should take a quick decision about it. 

According to Lu, the MCC board holds a review meeting every three months. It reviews the status of the project. The next board meeting will be held on December 14. The US wants Nepal to take a decision before the next review meeting.  The grant agreement was signed between Nepal and the MCC in 2017.

Lu said that only countries that make progress in democracy and liberal economy are entitled to get this grant. During his visit to Nepal, he met Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, former Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Chairman of the main opposition UML and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

During the meeting, the leaders expressed different views. The leaders failed to give a unanimous and concrete response. Prime Minister Deuba had hinted at endorsement of the MCC agreement. However, UML chairperson Oli said the government hasn’t consulted with them and so he could not comment on the issue. Similarly, Dahal said efforts were being made to reach a national consensus regarding the MCC but no decision had been reached yet.