“We look forward to working with the new government, particularly on the serious economic and developmental challenges facing Nepal in an effort to create an environment of growth and achievement from which all Nepalis can benefit.”
The U.S. had listed the Nepal’s Maoist party as Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224 and is included on the Terrorism Exclusion List, pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 2001. The list has been renamed Specially Designated Nationals.
“First, we congratulate the people of Nepal on the election of the new prime minister,” State department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said.
“We look forward to working with Prime Minister Bhattarai and continuing the warm and constructive relationship that we’ve had with Nepal. We’re hopeful that his election will give renewed momentum both to the peace process and to constitution drafting.”
"We are hopeful that we will be able to have a good working relationship," said Nuland.
When asked about the possibility of removing the terrorist tag against Nepal’s Maoist party, Nuland said that there is a whole range of issues that go into the designation, and that the U.S. was not prepared to de-list the party at present.
“There are a number of governments around the world where individual folks, individual parties in a coalition, have been designated, and we continue to work as best we can there. We have to review each of these on a case-by-case basis, and we have to — and we continue to work on progress as we can to work through the issues that led to the issues that led to the listing in the first place,” she told the reporters.
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