Controversy Puts SPP In Limbo

Uttam Maharjan

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is scheduled to visit the US in July. As preparations are being made for the visit, the issue of the State Partnership Programme (SPP) cropped up. Leaders of the ruling coalition except Nepali Congress and opposition parties are fearful that Prime Minister Deuba will sign the SPP agreement during his visit to the US. The so-called draft of the agreement has also been made public. 

The SPP is a joint programme of the US Department of Defence and 54 individual states, territories and the District of Columbia. The SPP saw the light of day in 1993 with three Baltic republics. In 1991, the US European Command decided to establish a Joint Contact Technical Programme (JCTP) in the Baltic region with Reserve Component Soldiers and Airmen. The National Guard Bureau proposal aligned US states with the said Baltic nations. Thus, the SPP came into existence. 

Military engagements

The SPP includes over 80 partnerships and more than 90 countries all over the world. The National Guard administers the SPP with foreign policy goals in view. The foreign policy goals are guided by the US State Department. The National Guard conducts military-to-military engagements in support of defence security goals, builds relations and capabilities and facilitates inter-agency and corollary engagements, playing a prominent role in military, government, economic and social domains. All SPP activities are designed to support the Theatre Campaign Plan (TCP) and US Ambassador mission plans in the country of operation.  

The civil-military nature of the SPP creates an enabling environment for active participation of the National Guard and a partner nation or partner nations in a wide array of cooperation activities such as emergency management and disaster response, border or port security, leadership and NCO  development, medical assistance, economic security, protection of natural resources, peacekeeping operations, counter-trafficking, counter-proliferation (countering the proliferation of lethal weapons, including weapons of mass destruction) and counter-terrorism. The SPP is also concerned with global security, understanding and cooperation. 

It aims at building long-term relations between its partner nations and encourages the development of political, economic and military ties between US states and partner nations. The National Guard of particular state partners with a nation or nations. As per the so-called draft of the SPP agreement, the Utah National Guard will partner with Nepal. As the uproar over the SPP agreement is raging, the US Embassy in Kathmandu has made the matter clear. The SPP is not a military alliance. The US does not force a country to join the SPP, which is a beneficial bilateral programme between the US and partner nations. Should any country want to join the SPP, it can. 

The Embassy has made it further clear that Nepal applied for membership of the SPP twice, in 2015 and 2017. The US endorsed Nepal’s membership in 2019. As Nepal’s membership has been accepted, there is no need for singing any agreement or document. This means Nepal is already a member of the SPP. 

The Embassy has also clarified that the SPP is an exchange programme between the National Guard of a US state and a partner nation. The National Guard supports US first responders in dealing with natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, landslides and forest conflagrations. The National Guard has military-to-military cooperation aimed at fulfilling the security goals of both countries. The National Guard is an elite entity capable of addressing humanitarian and disaster issues. 

The National Guard can share best practices and capabilities with partner nations in dealing with natural disasters and crises. Partner nations can reap benefits from the SPP, especially in disaster management. Nepal, like other countries, has to face disasters every year. Floods, landslides and sometimes storms heap suffering on Nepalis year in, year out. The country can, therefore, take advantage of the SPP. 

Although Nepal was associated with the SPP in 2019, no programme has started under this agreement. As a token of joining the SPP, in December of the same year, the US State Department delivered two C-146J Skytrucks (small six-winged cargo aircraft) for use in disaster management. The delay in implementing the SPP may be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in December 2019. The US Embassy says that programmes under the SPP will be embarked upon with approval from the government. The government has not granted approval for the initiation of any programme under the SPP.

The SPP is not bad per self as long as its programmes focus on disaster management and are humanitarian assistance-oriented. Some people suspect that the SPP and the MCC are interlinked but there is no such link between the two pacts. However, the much-touted Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) mentions the SPP but this post-dates Nepal’s requests for joining the SPP in 2015 and 2017. 

Controversy

The US Embassy also clarifies that if any partner nation wants to exit the SPP, it can. So Nepal can also exit the SPP if it does not want to be associated with it. Only Belarus has exited the SPP so far. There was a controversy over the MCC before it was passed by parliament. The MCC focusses on building electricity and road infrastructure. Likewise, the SPP focuses on addressing natural calamities for the benefit of partner nations. 

Viewed thus, there is no harm in joining the SPP. It has come into the open that Nepal sought to join the SPP after the 2015 earthquake to enlist assistance from the US in rebuilding the structures damaged or destroyed by the earthquake and for disaster preparedness and management. Some even view the SPP as a US tactic of encircling China. Anyway, the SPP has not been implemented in the country yet. If the country does not want to be associated with the SPP, it can exit it. Moreover, the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives has also directed the government to send an official letter to the US to the effect that the country will not be part of the SPP.   

(Maharjan has been regularly writing on contemporary issues for this daily since 2000. uttam.maharjan1964@gmail.com)