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At a time when Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has been intensifying efforts to forge a common ground on the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the United States has given the government of Nepal a deadline of February 28 to endorse the compact from the Parliament.

In response to a commitment letter sent by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on September 11, requesting for four to five months to secure the required majority in the House of Representatives for the ratification of the compact, the United States set the deadline by sending a letter to the government of Nepal on February 3, reminding it of the written commitment made by Deuba and Dahal.

In the commitment letter, the duo said that they would discuss clarifications received from the MCC with all the coalition partners and party members, use  the resource of Nepal to communicate publicly with the Nepali people and to dispel misunderstandings and apprehensions about the compact, hold a joint conference with leaders of the coalition partners to demonstrate government’s positive views on the MCC ratification, disseminate accurate information about the compact through state media, encourage MCA Nepal for the implementation of the MCC compact and to jointly request Speaker to table the MCC compact in the Parliament.

“Without action on your part by February 28, the MCC board will discuss next steps as its March 22 meeting, including whether to continue with the compact,” Fatema Z Sumar, vice president at MCC Compact Operations, said in the letter, adding, “Absent ratification, it is within the board’s authority to discontinue Nepal’s eligibility to receive the $500 compact grant with the grant from the United States. Such a decision would end MCC’s partnership with Nepal.”

She urged Prime Minister Deuba and Dahal to make a decision on the parliamentary ratification of the MCC right away.

“The MCC Board of Directors held a meeting on December 14, 2021 and reviewed the status of the compact with Nepal and discussed your September 11 letter. The MCC Board noted your commitment to work to ratify the compact in four to five months from the date of the letter,” the letter read, adding, “The Board acknowledged your plan to increase public awareness of the compact. MCC therefore requests that you continue to work with parliamentarians and coalition partners to ratify the compact by the timeline indicated in your letter, no later than February 28, 2022.”

"MCC believes that continuing with the compact is Nepal's sovereign choice. We have worked together with the government of Nepal for close to decade to move our partnership forward for the people of Nepal. We stand ready to help the people of Nepal reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth if Nepal's leaders choose to do so," the letter further read. "We value the partnership with the government of Nepal and look forward to working together to create economic opportunities in Nepal for its people in the coming years."

At a time when Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has been intensifying efforts to forge a common ground on the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) among the leaders of the coalition partners, the United States has given the government of Nepal a deadline of February 28 to endorse the compact from the Parliament.

In response to a commitment letter sent by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on September 11, requesting for four to five months to secure the required majority in the House of Representatives for the ratification of the compact, the United States set the deadline by sending a letter to the government of Nepal on February 3, reminding it of the written commitment made by Deuba and Dahal.

In the commitment letter, the duo said that they would discuss clarifications received from the MCC with all the coalition partners and party members, use  the resource of Nepal to communicate publicly with the Nepali people and to dispel misunderstandings and apprehensions about the compact, hold a joint conference with leaders of the coalition partners to demonstrate government’s positive views on the MCC ratification, disseminate accurate information about the compact through state media, encourage MCA Nepal for the implementation of the MCC compact and to jointly request Speaker to table the MCC compact in the Parliament.

“Without action on your part by February 28, the MCC board will discuss next steps as its March 22 meeting, including whether to continue with the compact,” Fatema Z Sumar, vice president at MCC Compact Operations, said in the letter, adding, “Absent ratification, it is within the board’s authority to discontinue Nepal’s eligibility to receive the $500 compact grant with the grant from the United States. Such a decision would end MCC’s partnership with Nepal.”

She urged Prime Minister Deuba and Dahal to make a decision on the parliamentary ratification of the MCC right away.

“The MCC Board of Directors held a meeting on December 14, 2021 and reviewed the status of the compact with Nepal and discussed your September 11 letter. The MCC Board noted your commitment to work to ratify the compact in four to five months from the date of the letter,” the letter read, adding, “The Board acknowledged your plan to increase public awareness of the compact. MCC therefore requests that you continue to work with parliamentarians and coalition partners to ratify the compact by the timeline indicated in your letter, no later than February 28, 2022.”

The birth anniversary of Kim Jong-il, father of Kim Jong Un, supreme leader of North Korea, has been celebrated in Lalitpur of Nepal on Friday.

The 81st birth anniversary of Kim Jong-il was celebrated by organising a programme at a hotel in Lalitpur today.

He was born in Russia on February 16, 1941 and died on December 17, 2011.

General Secretary of CPN (ML) CP Mainali and CPN (Unified Socialist) leader Rekha Yadav among others were present on the occasion.

The US has claimed Russia is planning to stage a fake Ukrainian attack that it would use to justify an invasion, BBC reported.

It alleged Moscow was likely to release a graphic video showing the attack on Russian territory or against Russian-speaking people in eastern Ukraine.

Russia denied it was planning to fabricate an attack, and the US did not provide evidence to support the claim.

The build-up of tens of thousands of Russian troops on Ukraine's borders has escalated fears of an invasion.

Moscow says they are there for military drills, but Ukraine and its Western allies remain concerned that Russia is planning to launch an assault.

"As part of this fake attack, we believe that Russia would produce a very graphic propaganda video, which would include corpses and actors that would be depicting mourners and images of destroyed locations," he said.

But senior US officials said the video was just one of several ideas Russia has to provide a pretext to invade its neighbour.

They added that the alleged plan was being revealed in an effort to dissuade Russia from invading.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the reports later on Thursday.

"This is not the first promise of its kind [to release details about Russian provocation]," he said. "Something similar was also said before, but nothing came of it."

Russia has repeatedly denied that it is planning an attack.

News of the alleged plot came a day after the US said it was sending more troops to eastern Europe to support allies in the Nato defensive alliance.

Russia said the move was "destructive" and showed that its concerns about Nato's eastward expansion were justified.

Also on Thursday, Nato expressed concerns that Russia was likely to deploy up to 30,000 troops - including special forces, fighter jets and short-range ballistic missiles - in Belarus, Ukraine's northern neighbour.

"This is the biggest Russian deployment there since the Cold War," Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.

Rivalry between Russia and the US, which still possess the world's biggest nuclear arsenals, dates back to the Cold War. Ukraine was then a crucial part of the communist Soviet Union.

Diplomatic moves

Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently in the Chinese capital, Beijing, for the Winter Olympics, and on Friday met his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for their first face-to-face meeting since June 2019, because of the pandemic.

The two nations have a close relationship - President Xi has previously praised Mr Putin as his "best friend", and it is widely expected that Russia will be looking for diplomatic support from China as tensions build with Ukraine and the West.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Russia and Ukraine next week to try and de-escalate the tensions. He will meet Mr Putin in the Russian capital, Moscow, on Monday, then Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky the next day.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was in Ukraine earlier this week in an effort to "avoid further bloodshed".