Shisir Khanal’s New Delhi trip carries unmistakable diplomatic weight, signalling Kathmandu’s intent to move past the friction and re-engage New Delhi at the highest levels.
New Delhi: Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal will arrive in New Delhi today for a three-day official visit, in what is being seen as a significant diplomatic reset aimed at repairing ties with India after a prolonged chill in bilateral relations and the boundary row.
Khanal, visiting at the invitation of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, will hold formal talks covering trade, investment, connectivity, energy and people-to-people ties. The visit comes at a delicate moment – media reports had revealed that India’s Foreign Secretary failed to secure an audience with Nepal’s Prime Minister Balen Shah during a proposed visit, an embarrassment that ultimately led to the trip being called off altogether, casting a pall over relations between the two neighbours. The Indian government, however, denied all such reports.
Against that backdrop, Khanal’s New Delhi trip carries unmistakable diplomatic weight, signalling Kathmandu’s intent to move past the friction and re-engage New Delhi at the highest levels.
The visit also follows a high-profile trip to India by Rabi Lamichhane, chief of Nepal’s ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), who received a grand reception in New Delhi that included a rare hour-long audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a gesture rich with cultural symbolism, Lamichhane gifted Modi a statue of the revered Pashupatinath temple – one of Hinduism’s holiest shrines, located in Kathmandu.
Writing on X after the meeting, Lamichhane said: “It was indeed a great delight to engage in such a productive hour-long conversation with Hon. PM @narendramodi today. I share your vision for a future where Nepal and India transcend past constraints to embrace a new era of development diplomacy. By focusing on shared civilizational bonds, digital corridors, and seamless connectivity, we can truly build a partnership defined by progress and mutual trust.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier had posted on X: “Delighted to meet the Chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party of Nepal, Mr. Rabi Lamichhane. Nepal is a priority partner under our Neighbourhood First policy, and we look forward to collaborating with the new government to elevate the special and multifaceted relationship between our two countries to greater heights.”
Foreign Minister Khanal’s visit is now expected to translate that political goodwill into concrete diplomatic deliverables. The two sides are likely to review the status of bilateral agreements on hydropower, cross-border connectivity and trade facilitation – sectors where momentum had visibly slowed during the period of estrangement.
Analysts see the visit as a course correction driven by mutual necessity. For Nepal’s coalition government – in which the RSP is a key pillar – stable ties with New Delhi carry both strategic and economic urgency. India, meanwhile, is keen to reassert its primacy as Nepal’s closest partner amid growing Chinese engagement in the Himalayan republic.
Sources in Nepal indicate some agreements are likely to be signed during Khanal’s visit to India. Khanal is scheduled to return to Kathmandu on Saturday.
