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🇳🇵 Nepal /Elections & Politics

Prime Minister Shah to Meet Indian, Chinese Envoys on Monday, US Chargé d’Affaires Next Day

From Kathmandu Post · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah will hold one-on-one meetings with the Indian and Chinese ambassadors on Monday, followed by the US Chargé d’Affaires on Tuesday.
  • These meetings mark the first individual engagements with foreign diplomats since Shah took office, breaking his previous policy of avoiding such meetings.
  • The scheduling of the meetings with India and China on the same day, with India first, is intended to signal their equal importance while maintaining Nepal's foreign policy priority of engaging India before China.

Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah is set to break his self-imposed rule of avoiding individual meetings with foreign diplomats by engaging in one-on-one discussions with key stakeholders. On Monday, he will meet separately with Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava and Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming. The following day, he is scheduled to meet with US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Scott Urbom.

These meetings are significant as they represent Shah's first individual engagements with ambassadors since assuming office on March 27. The initial plan to meet them two weeks prior was postponed due to communal violence in Sunsari and other districts. The decision to meet the ambassadors of Nepal's two immediate neighbors on the same day appears to be a deliberate move to underscore their equal importance to Nepal.

The Indian ambassador is told to come first followed by the Chinese ambassador. So both ambassadors are meeting the prime minister on the same day, but the earlier and later timings also show the foreign policy priority of the government.

— Senior Foreign Ministry officialAn official from Nepal's Foreign Ministry explained the significance of the meeting schedule with the Indian and Chinese ambassadors.

However, the scheduling also reflects the government's stated foreign policy priority, which emphasizes engaging with India first, followed by China. "The Indian ambassador is told to come first followed by the Chinese ambassador. So both ambassadors are meeting the prime minister on the same day, but the earlier and later timings also show the foreign policy priority of the government," a senior Foreign Ministry official told the Post.

The agenda for these meetings is expected to be largely introductory. The ambassadors will likely brief Prime Minister Shah on the current state of bilateral relations and convey any messages from their respective governments. This marks a shift from Shah's earlier policy, where he declined requests for meetings with high-ranking US officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Samir Paul Kapur and special envoy Sergio Gor.

It is only natural to begin with the ambassadors of our two neighbours, India and China, given Nepal’s foreign policy priorities.

— Aide to the prime ministerAn aide to Prime Minister Shah commented on the rationale behind prioritizing meetings with the Indian and Chinese ambassadors.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Kathmandu Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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