Nepali Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal will travel to New Delhi on Friday for talks with his counterpart S Jaishankar, following a visit by Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) leader Rabi Lamichhane, which marked a reset in bilateral ties after elections in the neighboring country.
Khanal will be in India from June 5 to 7 at the invitation of Jaishankar, and the two sides will discuss matters of mutual interest to enhance cooperation in key areas such as trade, investment, connectivity, energy and people-to-people relations, the Nepalese Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday.
“As part of the regular exchange of high-level visits, this visit will further strengthen the lasting and multifaceted bilateral relations between Nepal and India,” the ministry said.
After bilateral relations faltered following the cancellation of Foreign Minister Vikram Misri’s scheduled visit to Nepal last month when new Prime Minister Balendra Shah refused to meet him, Lamichhane’s visit and meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior Indian leaders this week helped put the relationship on an equal footing.
Khanal’s visit is expected to follow Jaishankar’s trip to Nepal later this year, people familiar with the matter said.
Lamichhane met BJP president Nitin Nabin, Jaishankar and Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday and discussed ways to reset bilateral ties. On Wednesday, Lamichhane met with Maude, who said in a social media post that he fully shared the RSP leader’s desire to “work closely together for a common and prosperous future.”
Modi described Nepal as a “priority partner under the Neighborhood First policy, and we look forward to cooperating with the new government to take the special and multifaceted relationship between our two countries to greater levels.”
Recalling his hour-long meeting with Modi in a social media post, Lamichhane said they shared a vision “of a future in which Nepal and India transcend the constraints of the past to embrace a new era of development diplomacy.”
Lamichhane said the two sides should focus on common civilizational ties, digital corridors and seamless communication to build a “partnership defined by progress and mutual trust.”
