In first bilateral trip, Nepal PM Balendra Shah to visit India from November 22

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri with Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah in Kathmandu on Thursday. (ANI)

In his first bilateral visit since assuming office in March, Nepal’s PM Balendra Shah will embark on a three-day official visit to India from November 22, officials said.

This was the key takeaway from a meeting between Shah and visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Thursday in Kathmandu. The decision is a turnaround for the Nepalese PM, who had earlier decided to not travel overseas for the first year in office.

According to officials, Shah responded positively—that he is looking for a “result-oriented” visit—when Foreign Secretary Misri paid him a courtesy call, and conveyed PM Narendra Modi’s invitation to him.

Shah thanked India and Prime Minister Modi for being the first respondent when Nepal was hit by destructive flash floods in August.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri meets Nepal Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal in Kathmandu on Wednesday. (ANI)

According to the Prime Minister’s Office in Nepal, Misri apprised Shah of regular meetings between the two sides on water resources, energy, trade, transit and aviation.

“The Foreign Secretary of India highlighted the wide-ranging engagement and overall progress in diverse areas of bilateral cooperation, and discussed possible outcomes and initiatives in the context of the upcoming visit of the Prime Minister of Nepal to India,” according to a joint statement issued at the end of Misri’s two-day visit.

During his visit, Misri also called on Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle, Foreign Affairs Minister Shisir Khanal, Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha and Infrastructure Development Minister Sunil Lamsal.

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On Wednesday, Misri held delegation-level talks with his Nepalese counterpart Amrit Bahadur Rai during which they “reviewed on-going cooperation across diverse sectors and discussed ways to further strengthen the mutually-beneficial partnership between India and Nepal,” the statement said.

Foreign Secretary Misri also interacted with a group of parliamentarians, including members of the India-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship Group, and Nepal’s Parliamentary Committee on International Relations and Tourism.

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Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 27 years... Read More