Military deal between Nepal and US untrue: US Embassy

Published On: June 15, 2022 04:21 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, June 15: The State Partnership Program (SPP) has been discussed since Tuesday in connection with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's visit to the United States, making highlights across news and social platforms.

Leaders and lawmakers of the country in and out of parliament are presenting their arguments about this program. Some are calling it a military and security-related program, some are calling it a non-military program, and some are interpreting it as a US interest.

Most of the lawmakers who raised their queries in parliament on Wednesday demanded Prime Minister Deuba to brief parliament on his visit to the United States and the SPP program. Gagan Thapa and Pradeep Gyawali have demanded PM Deuba immediately appear before parliament and answer the questions raised about his visit to the US and the SPP.

Following these backlashes over the issue, the US Embassy in Nepal also commented on the queries raised over the SPP through its official Twitter handle on Tuesday.

The embassy said, "The document published in some online outlets that purports to be a military deal between the United States and Nepal is fake. By policy, the United States does not ask countries to join the State Partnership Program and only responds to requests to do so,” the tweet reads.

Explaining this further, the tweet reads, "The State Partnership Program (SPP) is an exchange program between an American state’s National Guard & a partner foreign country. The U.S. National Guard domestically supports U.S. first responders in dealing with natural disasters, such as earthquakes, floods, and wildfires."

"SPP has existed for over 25 years and includes over 80 partnerships with over 90 countries, the majority of which are not in this region. In the event of natural and other disasters, ranging from hurricanes to earthquakes, floods, and fires, the United States seeks to share the best practices and capabilities of our National Guards — our first-line responders,” the embassy stated.