The Nepal Army (NA) has spoken about the State Partnership Program (SPP) and said it is clear about not signing any military partnership with any country violating the non-aligned foreign policy of Nepal.
Issuing a statement Wednesday evening, the NA has said its attention has been drawn by different news reports regarding the SPP in recent days.
"The Nepal Army has not signed any agreement or understanding about SPP with the US Army or government, and there is no process toward signing such agreement," the NA statement says.
The US Embassy in Nepal has also clarified that no documents have been signed about the SPP.
"The Nepal Army is always clear about the objective fact about not doing military partnership in the future with anyone in a way that can adversely affect the non-aligned foreign policy adopted by Nepal and Nepal's special geopolitical location and strategic sensitivities," the NA stresses.
The NA statement came just hours after an American diplomatic source claimed that Nepal has been part of the State Partnership Program (SPP) since 2019 after Nepal twice applied for participation in 2015 and 2017.
The then Nepal Army (NA) Chief Rajendra Chhetri had applied for partnership on both the occasions and the NA had copied both the applications to the Defense Ministry and the Foreign Ministry of Nepal, according to the source.
The website of the American National Guard also mentions that Nepal is part of the SPP since 2019 as claimed by the diplomatic source.
The source added that Nepal first applied for the SPP in 2015 while looking for resources for humanitarian assistance and to cope with natural disasters following the Gorkha Earthquake, and revealed that no documents were signed in course of accepting the application.
