K P Sharma Oli appointed Nepal's new Prime Minister
Kathmandu, Jul 14: K P Sharma Oli, CPN-UML chairman and seen as a pro-China leader, was appointed Nepal's Prime Minister for a fourth term on Sunday to lead the new coalition government that faces the daunting challenge of providing political stability in the Himalayan nation.
Oli, 72, succeeds Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda who lost the vote of confidence in the House of Representatives on Friday, leading to the formation of the new government process as per Article 76 (2) of the Constitution.
President Ram Chandra Paudel appointed Oli as the new Prime Minister under Article 76-2 of the Constitution of Nepal, according to a notice issued by the President’s Office.
Oli became the Prime Minister with the support of the Nepali Congress, the largest party in Parliament.
Oli's swearing-in ceremony is scheduled to take place at 11 am on Monday at Shital Niwas, the main building of Rashtrapati Bhawan.
On Friday night, Oli staked his claim to become the next Prime Minister with the backing of NC president Sher Bahadur Deuba and submitted the signatures of 165 House of Representatives (HoR) members -- 77 from his Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) party and 88 from the Nepali Congress. (NC).
CPN-Maoist Centre Chairman Prachanda lost the vote of confidence in HoR during a floor test on Friday.
Earlier last week, Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML chairman Oli inked a seven-point deal to form a new coalition government replacing Prachanda. The two leaders agreed that the remaining term of the Parliament would be shared between them turn by turn. In the first phase, Oli will become the Prime Minister for 18 months as per the agreement.
Prime Minister Oli will form a small cabinet on Monday, according to sources close to him.
Other political parties including Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal, Lokatantrik Samajwadi Party, Janamat Party and Nagarik Unmukti Party are also likely to join the government.
Oli served as Nepal's prime minister from October 11, 2015, to August 3, 2016 and then, from February 5, 2018, to July 13, 2021. He continued to serve from May 13, 2021, to July 13, 2021 -- because of an appointment by the then President Bidya Devi Bhandari, described by local media as a success of Oli’s Machiavellian tricks. Later, the Supreme Court ruled that Oli's claim to the post of prime minister was unconstitutional.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
