Nepal UK
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri is due in Kathmandu on Wednesday 4 November for talks that will test whether the relationship between the two governments can be reset after a difficult first seven months under Prime Minister Balendra Shah. It is the first high-level Indian visit to Nepal since the new government took office, and it comes with a possible prime ministerial trip to New Delhi on 22 November still unconfirmed.
Reports differ slightly on how long the visit will last. One account has Misri leaving on 5 November; another says he returns to New Delhi on 6 November. He has been invited by Nepal's Foreign Secretary, Amrit Bahadur Rai, and is expected to make courtesy calls on senior figures. It has not been confirmed whether he will meet Shah himself, a point that carries weight because of what happened in May.
A visit by Misri planned for May was postponed. Protocol issues were cited at the time, and Nepali press reports pointed to a reported refusal by Shah to meet him, as well as a dispute over the Lipulekh tri-junction on the border with India and China. The Shah government objected to India and China resuming Hindu pilgrimages to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar through the area Nepal claims. Neither government has said publicly that these issues are settled, and the Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura question is again reported to be on the agenda.
India's announced priorities are broader. According to reports, Misri will discuss what Nepal expects from Shah's trip, inaugurate several India-funded projects and mark the start of others. He is also expected to announce further Indian assistance, including help with reconstruction after the Bhote Koshi flood of 26 August. A new Indian ambassador, Sudhakar Dalela, a 1993-batch diplomat with experience of Nepal–Bhutan affairs and trade negotiations, was due to arrive in Kathmandu on 3 November. He succeeds Naveen Srivastava, who took up the post in June 2022.
The agenda is concrete. Trade, transit, hydropower, cross-border connectivity and border management are all named. Among the projects already under way, the Dodhara Chandani dry port is reported to be 26 per cent complete under a 30-month schedule, financed by Rs 2.37 billion in Indian aid. For Nepal, a stable working relationship with its largest trading partner affects fuel supply, import costs and the movement of the many Nepali workers in India.
Shah's own position is more delicate. His government has been vocal on sovereignty questions, and domestic opponents have criticised its record on press freedom and foreign policy. A visit to Delhi that produced no movement on Lipulekh could be portrayed as a concession; one that produced no progress on trade and aid could be portrayed as a failure. Neither outcome is predetermined, and officials from both countries have so far offered no direct statements on what they hope to achieve.
