Indian envoy meets Nepalese Foreign Minister, discusses bilateral ties, cooperation

India’s Ambassador to Nepal, Naveen Srivastava, on Monday called on the Himalayan nation’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal and discussed bilateral relations and cooperation. Khanal was appointed as Nepal’s Minister of Foreign Affairs after Balendra Shah, the parliamentary party leader of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Nepal on March 27. In a post on X, Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “Ambassador of India Naveen Srivastava paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal at the Ministry today.” During the meeting, Ambassador Srivastava conveyed External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar’s greetings to Khanal on his appointment as the Foreign Minister of Nepal. “Various matters relating to Nepal-India relations and cooperation were discussed on the occasion,” the Ministry added. Earlier on March 27, EAM Jaishankar had extended wishes to Shisir Khanal for taking over as Nepal’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and expressed readiness to work with him to further strengthen the partnership between the two nations. “Warm wishes to Shisir Khanal on taking over as the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal. Look forward to working closely with him to further strengthen our traditional partnership,” EAM Jaishankar posted on X. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated Shah on being sworn in as Nepal’s Prime Minister and expressed readiness to work with him to take the friendship between the two nations to greater heights for the benefit of citizens of both countries. Shah had thanked Prime Minister Modi for his congratulatory message and expressed hope to advance the multifaceted ties between the two nations. Thanking PM Modi, the Nepal Prime Minister’s Office said, “Thank you, PM Narendra Modi, for your kind words and warm wishes. I am eager to work closely with you to advance the multifaceted relations between our two countries for the common prosperity of our people.” On March 26, the RSP, which secured a sweeping victory in the recent parliamentary elections with a near two-thirds majority, elected Shah as its parliamentary party leader. He later became the country’s 47th Prime Minister. The 35-year-old former Kathmandu Mayor is one of the youngest Prime Ministers Nepal has ever had. Ties between India and Nepal are defined by deep-rooted people-to-people links as well as commonalities in religion, language and culture. India is the largest development partner of Nepal, with the major portion of our development assistance focused on large-scale infrastructure projects under grants, according to the Indian Embassy in Nepal. India has been active in extending development assistance to Nepal since the 1950s.