Kathmandu, Aug 9: Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah is scheduled to hold separate meetings with the Indian and Chinese ambassadors on Monday, marking his first one-on-one diplomatic engagements with the two key neighbours since taking office more than 100 days ago.
Shah will first meet Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava on Monday morning, followed by a meeting with Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming later in the day, according to Nepal’s Foreign Ministry sources.
The meetings are expected to focus on bilateral relations, with the ambassadors likely to brief the prime minister on the current state of ties and convey messages from their respective governments.
The meetings come after Shah, who assumed office on March 27 following a landslide electoral victory, had largely avoided individual diplomatic engagements. Instead, he held a joint courtesy meeting with 17 Kathmandu-based ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions, including those from India and China, on April 8.
Shah is also scheduled to meet US Embassy Charge d’Affaires Scott Urbom on Tuesday, followed by engagements with other foreign diplomats.
The diplomatic meetings had been delayed following communal violence in Nepal’s Terai and Madhesh regions.
Shah had earlier refrained from one-on-one meetings with senior foreign officials, including US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Samir Paul Kapur and US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor.
He later held an individual meeting with Asian Development Bank President Masato Kanda during Kanda’s visit to Nepal in July.
The Nepalese prime minister has not yet visited either India or China. Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal instead undertook separate visits to New Delhi and Beijing in June.
Khanal has said Nepal seeks to build stronger and deeper relations with both India and China, describing the two countries as vital partners for Nepal. He has also said Kathmandu wants to transform Nepal from a landlocked country into a “vibrant, dynamic bridge” connecting its two neighbours.
