Sharjah24 – Reuters: Police in Kathmandu fired teargas and water cannon to disperse protesters opposed to a U.S.-funded infrastructure programme that was set to be presented in parliament for ratification on Sunday (February 20), witnesses and officials in Nepal's capital said.
Some protesters were injured in the clashes, they said.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. government aid agency, agreed in 2017 to provide $500 million in grants to fund a 300-kilometre (187 mile) electricity transmission line and a road improvement project in Nepal.
Government officials said the grant will not have to be repaid and comes with no strings, but opponents say the agreement would undermine Nepal's laws and sovereignty as lawmakers would have insufficient oversight of the board directing the infrastructure project.
Despite loud protests, the Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki put forward the agreement in parliament and said the projects would benefit 24 million of Nepal's 30 million population.
Nepal relies heavily on foreign aid, and donors coordinate development aid policy through the Nepal Development Forum, whose members include donor countries and international financial organisations.
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