Kathmandu, August 24

The government has urged locals not to get involved in any activity that would escalate the situation in Bhimdattanagar Municipality.

Stating that the government had already formed an investigation team and recalled concerned security officers, the government said the demonstrations were infiltrated by external elements who wanted to further escalate the situation.“The government is serious about the incident and urges all to exercise restraint,” said Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Spokesperson for the Government Gokul Baskota after the Cabinet meeting this evening.

“The incident occurred not because of the government but because of criminal elements.”He said the government had already directed local administration to investigate any such infiltrations in demonstrations.

Today’s Cabinet also decided to set up a high-level talks team to hold dialogue with various groups still in conflict, study past agreements and make necessary recommendation to the government. The team is coordinated by lawmaker Som Prasad Pandey, while members are Suresh Ale Magar (Tanahun), Tara Kanta Chaudhary (Saptari), Lila Bhandari (Kailali) and a joint secretary from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The government also decided to accept Rs 2 billion in grant from the Swiss government for safe housing project 2018-20. The Cabinet also decided to table in the Parliament Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology 2017 for approval.

The government also decided to authorise Foreign Minister Pradeep Kuamr Gyawali to sign a Memorandum of Association for the establishment of Technology Transfer Facility in the BIMSTEC summit.