By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Mar. 2: Madhav Kumar Nepal, chairman of ruling CPN (Unified Socialist), has said that Mahakali resolution and the interpretive declaration for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact were two different things, and they could not be compared.

Speaking at a press meet in Kathmandu on Tuesday, Nepal clarified that the Mahakali resolution was something for sharing natural resources between the two countries but the MCC Compact was purely a fiscal grant.

“We can utilise the grant amount in developing our infrastructure to fill up the development gap in the country,” he said. According to Nepal, the MCC Compact was dragged into controversy because of former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s egoist self-serving nature. He said that the Cabinet ministers of previous Oli-led government spread rumours about the compact among the people and linked MCC with Indo Pacific Strategy.

Leader Nepal also said that US government had once included Nepal under IPS in May 2019 but excluded the name of the country from the list afterwards.
“We were not convinced with some clauses of the MCC Compact and negotiated for their corrections with the US envoy and other officials,” he added.

Nepal admitted that some of the provisions in the MCC agreement were against national interest. He further said the constitution of the country has adopted non-aligned foreign policy which was why the government welcomed the grant from America. “The constitution allows us to welcome the assistances from any country in the world but it should be accepted in a dignified manner,” he said.
Leader Nepal, who spent most of his time to criticise former prime minister Oli, urged the leaders not to suspect in the content of the compact. “Acceptance of US’s MCC Compact will not harm us, neither will it pose any challenge to our national security,” he said.

He said that the interpretive declaration had clarified lawfully all illusions spread among the people.