KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 21

Nepali Congress Spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat said people have now realised that a sustained campaign was being launched to spread rumours and misinformation against the Millennium Challenge Corporation deal that Nepal had signed with the United States.

Speaking to journalists at an information interaction here today, Mahat said the $500 million MCC project was the best deal as it gave Nepal the chance to have full ownership to implement the electricity transmission line and road upgradation project in a transparent manner.

'If we look at all the grants and loans we have received thus far for development projects, donors have brought their own contractors and equipment. The Government of Nepal does not have full ownership of such projects, but the MCC projects will be under the ownership of the Government of Nepal,' Mahat said, adding that Nepal would be happy to receive such grants from any other countries if the same terms and conditions stated in the MCC deal were stated in other countries or donors' deal.

Mahat said the MCC deal would also be beneficial for Nepal as it would help Nepal set its grants and loan assistance processes. 'Tomorrow we can ask other donors to provide us assistance on the lines of the MCC deal, so it will be beneficial for Nepal,' he added.

Mahat said all the prime ministers after 2012, including Baburam Bhattarai, KP Sharma Oli, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, KP Sharma Oli and Sher Bahadur Deuba, were involved in the MCC deal process. He also said the provision for parliamentary ratification was inserted in the deal when KP Sharma Oli was the prime minister.

Mahat said his party had called all the parties to support the MCC deal. He said his party was not concerned about the fate of the current ruling coalition due to the MCC deal ratification process.

Mahat said his party believed that the country should carry out its foreign relations with other countries on the basis of same norms and values.

When asked if the government should proceed with belt and road initiative projects that Nepal had signed with China, Mahat said he had himself signed the project when he was the foreign minister and if the BRI projects would be beneficial for Nepal, then the government would decide to move ahead with the project.

When asked to comment on the recent remarks made by China's foreign ministry spokesperson about the MCC deal, Mahat said Nepal had not faced any pressure from the US. He said the American authorities had told Nepali leaders that Nepal had signed the MCC deal and therefore the country should conclude the deal soon, which was natural.

On February 18, China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during a regular press briefing in Beijing that China had opposed coercive diplomacy and actions that pursued selfish agenda at the expense of Nepal's sovereignty and interests.

Wang's remarks came after a journalist asked him to comment on US State Department spokesperson's recent statement that Nepal must decide whether it would ratify the MCC compact between the two countries by February 28, otherwise it would have an impact on US-Nepal bilateral relations.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 22, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.