KATHMANDU, Aug 10: Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah on Monday held his first one-on-one meeting with Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava and emphasised the need to deepen the country’s “historic relationship” with India.
Shah met Srivastava at the Prime Minister’s Office in Singha Durbar. The meeting covered Nepal-India bilateral relations, mutual interests, development partnership and areas of cooperation, according to the prime minister’s secretariat.
Srivastava congratulated Shah and expressed his commitment to further strengthening relations and cooperation between the two countries.
“Honoured to call on Rt. Hon. Prime Minister of Nepal (@ShahBalen) this morning. Conveyed warm greetings from Prime Minister Modi ji (@narendramodi). Had an engaging and productive exchange of views on further deepening robust, multifaceted India-Nepal partnership,” Ambassador Srivastava posted on X.
Shah emphasised the need to deepen Nepal’s “historic relationship” with India and work together in areas of shared interest, his secretariat said.
The meeting comes as Shah has begun moving away from his earlier policy of avoiding one-on-one engagements with foreign ambassadors and senior visiting officials.
Shah is also scheduled to meet Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming separately on Monday, while US Embassy Charge d’Affaires Scott Urbom is expected to meet him on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister had earlier avoided one-on-one engagements and even declined to meet the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Samir Paul Kapur and President Donald Trump’s special envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor.
Shah broke his self-imposed rule by holding a one-on-one meeting with Asian Development Bank President Masato Kanda, who visited Nepal for three days beginning July 6.
Prime Minister Shah had also not undertaken any visit to either the southern or the northern neighbour, and instead Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal made back-to-back visits to New Delhi and Beijing in June. (PTI)
