from The Rising Nepal
The ongoing Standing Committee (SC) meeting of ruling Nepal Communist Party has been divided on the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) Nepal Compact. Some NCP’s leaders are against utilising the $500 million US-funded project, citing that it is the part of Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) which is seen as a counterweight to China multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Nepal had signed up to the BRI in 2017 with a view to building the critical infrastructure. It is widely believed that China does not want Nepal to be the part of IPS.
The MCC fund will be spent on constructing the inter-country transmission lines connecting between Nepal and India. According to a US website, MCC’s Nepal Compact seeks to increase the availability of electricity and lower the cost of transportation in Nepal.
A Bill on the MCC’s Nepal Compact is pending in the parliament and delay in getting it endorsed in the House of Representatives has fuelled speculations about its fate. NCP stalwarts such as Bhim Rawal and Dev Gurung have stood against passing the MCC from the parliament. But Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and party establishment are in a mood to approve it from the winter session of parliament. The government considers MCC helps boost infrastructure development of country.
The NCP’s leaders are scratching their heads weather or not the MCC is a part of IPS. Those leaders protesting the MCC argue that endorsing it amount to joining the US military alliance which goes against the nation’s non-aligned foreign policy. Those standing in its favour claim that the MCC was a separate project and initiated prior to the IPS. Meanwhile, IPS document has said that Nepal is in the US-led strategy though Nepal has not officially joined the IPS. Meanwhile, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Gyawali, also a SC member, has defended the MCC, stating that it was not the component of IPS so it must be given the go-ahead.
Nonetheless, the MCC dilemma poses a moral question to the ideology of the communist party. Communist parties all over the world usually denounce the US as being the imperialist power and think it is unethical to be part of US-led global project. Perhaps this is ideological factor impelling the NCP leaders to object to the MCC. However, South Asia’s largest party must not be entangled into this controversy. It should show diplomatic dexterity and should benefit from the foreign investment without undermining security concerns of the neighbours.
(By RRS)
