By Our Reporter
Normally, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is not seen with his spouse Dr Arju Rana Deuba during his meetings with the political leaders.
In the recent past, Arju had visited New Delhi to arrange PM Deuba’s visit to India. In the last hours, Deuba’s visit was cancelled as the event that Deuba was going to attend in Gujrat was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Arju’s visit to Delhi at that time was questioned by a wide section of intellectuals and political leaders saying that at what capacity Arju had visited Delhi! Usually, there is a practice of sending an advance team for arranging meetings and tours of the visiting dignitaries. That advance team should be comprised of foreign ministry officials. Violating the diplomatic norms, Arju had visited Delhi to arrange her husband’s India visit, which later was cancelled.
Arju’s presence at the meeting between Deuba and Oli:
On Thursday (17 February) evening, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba reached Balkot to meet the former prime minister and main opposition party leader K.P. Sharma Oli in the process of bagging support for endorsing the MCC Nepal Compact from Parliament.
Deuba was accompanied by his wife Arju, which was odd.
Arju’s presence at the meeting between the two senior leaders reflects the American urgency in endorsing the MCC Nepal Compact on the given deadline of 28 February.
We can sense that the Americans have mobilized all Nepali political leaders, academicians, intellectuals, journalists, among others, who are under their influence to lobby for MCC.
Besides, MCC vice-chairman Fatima J Sumar held a virtual meeting with a group of Nepali academicians and journalists.
American assistant secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, Donald Lu called Prime Minister Deuba, opposition party leader K.P. Sharma Oli and Maoist Center chair Pushpakamal Dahal Prachanda and warned for reviewing America’s relations with Nepal, according to reports.
He had even warned for placing Nepal as a country under Chinese influence, reports state.
Newspapers have also reported that rejection of the MCC by Nepal could be very costly for her. Financial cooperation from the US and other Western countries and international financial institutions for Nepal can be curtailed.
Such warnings made Nepalis further suspicious of the MCC Nepal Compact grant project.
In the meantime, Arju’s lobbying for MCC endorsement has given a message that how important is MCC, a 500 million US dollar grant project for the Americans rather than the Nepalis.
Who is Arju?
All the Nepalis are aware that Arju is the much-trusted lady of the USA.
Her contacts with the US officials are higher than those of her husband PM Deuba.
She is known to be the lady who is running different NGOs sponsored by the American INGOs.
Quora, an American social question-and-answer website based in Mountain View, California has identified Arju as an America’s man.
Quora states, “She currently serves on the board of IPAS, USA (2014 ongoing) and the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Education for Peace and Sustainable Development, which is a UNESCO type institution based in New Delhi, India (2014 ongoing).
In the late 90s, when she was working with an INGO in Nepal, the then US ambassador Julia Chang Bloch had arranged the marriage between Sher Bahadur Deuba and Arju Rana, reports state.
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