The Deputy Secretary of State or Political Affairs of the United States of America (USA) Mrs. Victoria Jane Nuland left for India on Monday evening after concluding her high-level mission to Nepal.
She will also have a high-level meeting in India and then to Sri Lanka.
Then after she will head home (USA).
Ms. Nuland is the first high level official to arrive in Kathmandu on Sunday evening for a two-day visit after the formation of the new government in Nepal.
During her visit, US deputy secretary Nuland talked on various issues including Nepal-US relationships with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Bimala Rai Poudyal, UML president KP Sharma Oli, President of Nepali Congress Sher Bahadur Deuba.
Before concluding her Nepal trip, Nuland visited various cultural heritage sites of archaeological importance at Patan Durbar Square in Lalitpur Monday.
US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland also held a press conference in Lalitpur after her historic site’s observation tour.
Talking with the media, the visiting US official has said that the US government will invest more than 1 billion US dollars in Nepal in the next 5 years, possibly in green energy, electrification and businesses started by women.
Besides that, the US will give priority to sectors such as health, agriculture and tourism.
As per the sources, Deputy Foreign Minister Nuland said that finishing the transitional justice process and creating a favorable environment for bringing in American investment, fighting to end corruption and making democracy transparent were also discussed during the meeting with the top leaders.
According to diplomatic sources, Mrs. Nuland also discussed the work progress of the American aided project Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) which was passed by the Nepalese parliament at the end of last year.
The MCC project was approved by the Parliament of Nepal in the second week of February 2078 with the aim of investing about 500 million US dollars in the expansion of electrical transmission lines and road infrastructure.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister assured US official Nuland that since the MCC project has been approved by the Parliament, work is being done on its technical side and it will be implemented soon.
Prime Minister Prachanda stressed that the government is committed to resolving the transitional justice issue as soon as possible.
Exchange of cooperation and relations on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Nepal and the United States.
During the meeting with top political leaders, Deputy Secretary Nuland was also said to have discussed transitional justice related to the human rights violations and disappearances by the state and the rebel side during the then Maoist-led war.
The USA doesn’t want any kind of corruption in economic cooperation extended by the US to Nepal, Nuland stressed adding the US wants to have relations with Nepal at the grassroots level, so that our democratic relations and economic cooperation are strengthened.
America is supporting and cooperating in strengthening Nepal’s democracy, advancing education, health, agriculture system, expansions of tourism and economic growth, good governance etc. the US official stressed that the United States wants Nepal to make sovereign decisions about its interests.
She also lauds the harmonious relationships Nepal has built with its neighboring countries.
