Kathmandu: India has proposed a visit by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to Nepal on May 11–12 as part of wider consultations ahead of newly-elected Nepali Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s visit to its southern neighbour, The Kathmandu Post reported on Monday.
Citing diplomatic sources in the Foreign Ministry of Nepal and the Nepali Embassy in India, the report stated that the Indian side has proposed the dates and is awaiting Kathmandu’s official response.
Following communication from the Indian side, Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai has already sent a formal invitation to Misri, according to the report.
Nepali Prime Minister Shah has already received an invitation from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit India, and he has accepted it, Nepal’s Foreign Minister Sishir Khanal confirmed earlier.
He also indicated that the visit may take some time, as the government will first set its priorities. “Several technical mechanisms between the two sides will also work on the agenda to be discussed,” Khanal said earlier. “There are around 40 bilateral mechanisms between the two sides that deal with different aspects of bilateral relations, and technical preparations need to be completed.”
These institutional mechanisms range from district to foreign minister levels, covering security, water resources, irrigation, border management, boundary issues, trade, commerce, and agriculture. Some of these meetings are held regularly, while others have been pending for years.
Following the formation of the new government led by Prime Minister Balendra Shah on March 27, Kathmandu has seen a series of high-level diplomatic engagements.
Nepal recently hosted back-to-back senior-level visits from the United States and one from China, while New Delhi is now preparing to send its top diplomat to the Himalayan country.
Kathmandu has already hosted US Assistant Secretary of State Samir Paul Kapur last week. Deputy Director General of the Department of Asian Affairs at China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cao Jing, also visited Kathmandu at the same time and held talks with senior foreign ministry officials.
On April 10, Foreign Minister Khanal held talks with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar in Mauritius during the ninth Indian Ocean Conference where they reportedly discussed finalising various projects and programmes to be supported by India in line with Nepal’s priorities ahead of future high-level visits.
According to the report, Foreign Minister Khanal has also been consulting ministers and reviewing the status of various Indian-funded projects in Nepal, including their progress, obstacles, and potential areas for new cooperation.
Dozens of projects and programmes are currently being implemented in Nepal with Indian economic and technical assistance, at different stages of completion.
India is also one of Nepal’s leading development partners. In the fiscal year 2024–25, India emerged as the largest bilateral donor to Nepal, disbursing US$107.8 million, according to Nepal’s finance ministry.
(IANS)
