No provision of military involvement: MCC; Vice-Chair Sumar arriving Nepal today

September 9, Kathmandu: US agency Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has clarified that the projects under the corporation have no provisions of military involvement.

In reply to questions raised by the Government of Nepal, Vice-Chair of MCC Fatema Sumar said, in a letter addressed to Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, that MCC had no hidden agendas and made it clear that MCC was not a part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy

Meanwhile, MCC Vice-Chair Fatema Sumar and Deputy Chair Jonathan Brooks are arriving in Kathmandu from Qatar on Thursday on a four-day visit to Nepal.

The MCC’s visit at this level is viewed with interest and importance after the bilateral agreement on the Millennium Challenge Compact was signed between the Government of Nepal and the Millennium Challenge Corporation of the US Government four years ago to reduce poverty and promote sustainable socio-economic development.

The agreement was signed between the MCC on behalf of the US government and the Ministry of Finance on behalf of Nepal.

The visit is being watched with interest in the political circles as well as at the grassroots level over the 50 billion rupees assistance received from the United States as a grant for the implementation of road infrastructure, power transmission line construction and other physical infrastructure development projects in Nepal.

However, they are coming to Nepal to inquire information about the procedural progress of the MCC project.

The previous government had recognized the MCC-assisted project as a project of national pride, approved an environmental impact assessment and gave priority to land acquisition and construction of transborder transmission lines.

The project, which has an agreement with the common goal of promoting Nepal’s economic development and poverty alleviation, includes the construction of a 318-kilometre-long transmission line with a capacity of 400 kilovolts and three high-capacity substations.

While in Nepal, the delegation led by Vice-Chair Sumar is scheduled to hold separate meetings with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma and Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Pampha Bhusal.