Kathmandu: US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Karl Inderfurth arrived Kathmandu Friday on the last leg of his three-country visit to South Asia to complete, what he called, some ‘unfinished business’. “We want to see the Bhutanese refugee problem resolved before we leave office on January 20,” he told a press conference.

The US Assistant Secretary arrived an hour late from New Delhi due to the delay of the Indian Airlines flight, resulting in the cancellation of his meeting with Nepalese Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola. According to the Foreign Ministry the meeting has been rescheduled for Saturday morning.

Accompanying Inderfurt are officials from the US State Department and the National Security Council.

Soon after his arrival, Inderfurth had talks with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on important bilateral issues and also on the United Nations. He also lauded Nepal’s contribution to UN peace-keeping missions around the world. He has also brought two letters from the US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to Prime Minister Koirala on Nepal-US relationship.

US Assistant Secretary of the US Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration Ms. Julia Taft, who had arrived here a day earlier, was also present at the talks.

Inderfurth said in the last four years, there have been conscious and deliberate attempts, such as the visit of US President Bill Clinton and other high level meetings, to give higher priority to South Asia. He said after the Cold War, the United States has readjusted and redefined its foreign policy based on reality which has led to new approaches towards South Asia, mainly India. However, he denied that US policy has tilted towards India.

For Nepal, the US Assistant Secretary said America’s emphasis is on democracy and economic opportunities such as hydropower development and also on social issues like child labour, trafficking of women and terrorism. He said during his talks with Prime Minister Koirala, they also discussed briefly about the Maoist issue in Nepal.

The US policy towards South Asia will continue, said Inderfurt and hoped that the new US administration will keep on giving increased priority to this region. But he said democracy is key to the United States giving priority to this region.

Meanwhile, Inderfurth expressed concerns about the non-convening of the SAARC summit and said the United States is a strong supporter of SAARC and the regional cooperation to deal with regional problems.

On a question whether the recall of Nepal’s envoy in Washington Damodar Gautam was in retaliation to the non-confirmation of the proposed US ambassador to Nepal, Inderfurth said the decision to recall ambassadors is the sole domain of the countries concerned.

Meanwhile, US ambassador Ralph Frank said in the last two years the press has come at the forefront in exposing corrupt activities which were not possible 15 years ago when he was working in the US embassy. This was not the case even for some years after the advent of democracy. “If it is not in the front page of the newspapers, it is not going to go away,” US Ambassador Ralph Frank said.