New Delhi: Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri Wednesday called on Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal and met with his counterpart Amrit Bahadur Rai in Kathmandu in preparation for a visit by Prime Minister Balen Shah to India later this month.
“Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri held talks on a range of issues of mutual interest with Nepal Foreign Secretary H.E. Mr. Amrit Bahadur Rai, in preparation for the forthcoming visit of the Prime Minister of Nepal to India,” the Indian Embassy in Nepal said in a statement on X.
The visit is expected to occur sometime after 20 November, in the third week of this month. Misri’s visit to Kathmandu comes as India seeks to engage with the Balendra “Balen” Shah government, which came to power earlier this year.
In his meeting with Khanal, Misri “discussed prospects for expanding” the “multifaceted” relationship between the two countries. Misri is on a two-day visit to the Himalayan country at the invitation of Foreign Secretary Rai. The Indian Foreign Secretary is expected to call on Shah before departing for New Delhi.
“The bilateral talks covered the entire gamut of Nepal-India relations, including exchange of high-level visits, connectivity, trade, development cooperation, energy and people to people relations, underscoring the strong bond between the two countries,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal said in a statement on the Misri-Rai meeting.
Misri also met Nepal’s Infrastructure Development Minister Sunil Lamsal and Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha.
Misri is on a two-day visit to Nepal on 4 and 5 November. He is expected to depart Kathmandu for New Delhi Thursday. Apart from meeting high-level officials, the Foreign Secretary is expected to finalise the agenda for Shah’s visit.
The new Prime Minister of Nepal is expected to make his first official bilateral visit to India. He had earlier attended the United Nations General Assembly in September, where he spoke on the cost of climate change and its impact on Nepal following the glacial flood, which occurred in the country at the end of August.
For Nepal, its key areas of interest with India remain the production of clean-energy, greater border connectivity and other infrastructure projects. Misri was expected to visit Nepal earlier in May, however, the visit fell through due to a number of factors, including Shah’s reluctance to meet with officials who are not of equivalent level.
Nepal’s Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle made a visit to India in September to discuss reconstruction of the country following the glacial flood and bilateral ties. It was considered as an important opening to further stabilise ties between the two neighbouring countries.
Earlier this year, Nepal was miffed over the route of the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage which included travellers travelling through the pass at Lipulekh, which Kathmandu claims as a part of its territory. India had rejected Nepal’s claims, pointing that this route has been in use since at least the 1950s.
Foreign Minister Khanal had visited India in June and met with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. In comments to ThePrint at the time, Khanal underlined that Kathmandu is looking to solve the border dispute “bilaterally”. Shah had reached out to the UK and China for documents relating to Lipulekh earlier this year.
India has publicly confirmed that it has invited Shah to visit India, which has been pending for almost half a year now. Shah was elected as Prime Minister in March. The previous Nepal government led by K.P. Oli resigned in September 2025 following the youth protests across the country.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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