Kathmandu, June 16
Amid the ongoing debate about the United States government’s State Partnership Program, it has been found that the KP Sharma Oli-led government had asked for the program back in 2015.
Earlier, the CPN-Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal had claimed it was Oli who had taken initiatives for the program. But, Oli’s CPN-UML has refuted the charge, challenging Dahal to show evidence.
In this context, Onlinekhabar has obtained a copy of the letter that then Nepal Army Chief Rajendra Chhetri wrote to the US Ambassador Alaina B Teplitz on October 27, 2015, asking on behalf of the Government of Nepal for the program.
This was just around two weeks after Oli was elected the PM for the first time.
The letter also contracts the Nepal Army’s claim that it had never asked the US government for the State Partnership Program and repeated similar claims from the government’s side.