Indian foreign secretary visits Nepal

Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited Nepal on 4-5 November, at the invitation of his Nepalese counterpart Amrit Bahadur Rai.

During the visit, the Indian foreign secretary called on Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah and conveyed greetings from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to a joint press release.

The foreign secretary of India highlighted the wide-ranging engagement and overall progress in diverse areas of bilateral cooperation, and discussed possible outcomes and initiatives in the context of the upcoming visit of the prime minister of Nepal to India.

Indian foreign secretary called on Nepalese Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle, Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Biraj Bhakta Shrestha and Minister for Infrastructure Development Sunil Lamsal.

The two foreign secretaries held delegation-level talks on 4 November during which they reviewed on-going cooperation across diverse sectors and discussed ways to further strengthen the mutually-beneficial partnership between India and Nepal.

The Indian foreign secretary also interacted with a group of parliamentarians, including members of the India-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship Group and Nepal’s Parliamentary Committee on International Relations and Tourism.

During various engagements, the Nepali leadership expressed gratitude for India’s swift and substantial humanitarian and technical assistance in the aftermath of the Rasuwa-Bhotekoshi floods. Both sides noted with satisfaction the growing engagement in recent times in traditionally strong areas of bilateral cooperation, including trade and commerce, development partnership, hydropower, physical connectivity, border management, energy, and people to people ties as well as newer avenues for collaboration including start-ups, digital connectivity, AI and sports. They reaffirmed their commitment to all round enhancement of the bilateral partnership.

The visit of the foreign secretary of India continued the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries to further advance close bilateral ties of friendship and cooperation.