KATHMANDU, JUNE 27
Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand today told the National Assembly that the government had written to the United States of America through the Ministry of Home Affairs about its decision to withdraw from the US State Partnership Programme.
The Cabinet had on June 20 decided to withdraw from SPP.
Responding to lawmakers' queries on behalf of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who also holds the defence portfolio, Khand said the government had taken seriously the concerns expressed by lawmakers regarding SPP.
"The government is fully committed to barring the use of Nepal's soil against any friendly neighbour," Khand said, adding that the government was committed to the policy of non-alignment and Panchasheel.
On the issue of national security and defence, the government is working in accordance with the constitution and people's expectation, he added.
Nepal's participation in SPP led to blame game between the ruling alliance and the major opposition party, the CPN-UML, with both sides blaming each other for joining the programme. When the then army chief Gen Rajendra Chhetri wrote a letter to the US Ambassador to Nepal Alaina B Teplitz on 27 October 2015 informing her of Nepal's desire to join SPP, UML Chair KP Sharma Oli was the prime minister. Later Oli said that he was not aware about the letter.
The Nepali Army had written to the US Embassy in Nepal in 2015 and 2017, requesting to be part of the SPP. The US Embassy in Kathmandu had said the Nepali Army's request was accepted in 2019.
A version of this article appears in the print on June 28, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
