Kathmandu July 14 : Donald Lu, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, is arriving in Nepal today . During his one-day visit to Nepal, Deputy Secretary Lu has a scheduled program to hold discussions and meetings with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda and Foreign Minister NP Saud.

The US Embassy in Kathmandu officially announced Assistant Secretary Lu’s visit on Thursday. “He is eager to return to Nepal,” the embassy posted on Facebook. Currently, Lu is on a tour of South Asia. In the meeting with Prime Minister Prachanda and Foreign Minister Saud, Lu will discuss the status of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) project worth 500 million US dollars, as well as other issues related to the bilateral relationship. He will also meet with the staff of the US Embassy.

According to the embassy, Lu will be meeting with a member organization of the American Chamber of Commerce. The embassy informed Lu about the efforts made by the organization to provide support in order to make Nepal competitive globally.

Previously, after the decision by the Nepali government not to extend the American program State Partnership Program (SPP), Lu had visited Nepal. The MCC agreement had been approved by the Nepali Parliament four months ago.

Assistant state Minister Lu is an American diplomat specializing in South and Central Asia affairs. He was appointed as Assistant Foreign Minister to oversee South and Central Asia matters on 2021. Prior to that, Lu served as Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan and Albania. With over 30 years of experience in American diplomatic service, he has also worked at the American Embassy in New Delhi and the American Embassy in Pakistan. He served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Delhi. He has also served as the Deputy Director of the Central and South Asia Affairs Office.