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By Our Reporter

United States (US) Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Donald Lu, returned home after concluding his visit to Nepal on Monday.

Before arriving in Nepal, Lu made a farewell visit to India and Sri Lanka.

During his two-day stay in Nepal, Lu held meetings with Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, Maoist Centre boss Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel.

However, he could not meet Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, as the latter was in Jhapa when Lu was in Kathmandu. However, Lu held a meeting with PM Oli’s chief advisor Bishnu Rimal and economic advisor Dr. Yubraj Khatiwada.

Lu is the very American diplomat who had warned to keep Nepal away from receiving grant aids from international agencies if Nepal discards MCC. Lu is said to have requested the then PM of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina to allow the establishment of an American military base in Bangladesh. Hasina blamed Lu for toppling her government in Bangladesh. 

It is said that Lu questioned the Nepali leaders about the BRI agreement and the reasons for not making it public. The government agreed to make public the BRI agreement on Tuesday after Lu said the US would comment on the BRI agreement only after the government made it public and the Foreign Minister on Tuesday made the agreement public.