Christina Rocca, the U.S.diplomat directly involved in overseeing and implementing President George W. Bush’s South Asia policy, arrived in the kingdom Wednesday for a first three-day fact finding visit. At the airport, she told journalists, “I am happy to be here in Kathmandu.”
The Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia arrived in Nepal on the second leg of her regional tour that will also take her to Pakistan. She will begin substantive discussions with Nepali political leaders and officials Thursday to reinforce U.S. strategic and economic interests in the kingdom, officials said.
The Bush administration will pursue independent policies with individual South Asian nations, Rocca said before coming to Nepal. The United States seeks to strengthen multi-party democracy in Nepal, she also said.