Nepal PM Balendra Shah's India visit likely after talks on meaningful agenda

Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah will visit India at an appropriate time, but no date has been fixed yet, Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said on Wednesday. He said both Nepal and India want the visit to be "meaningful" and "result-oriented".

Speaking to reporters after returning from the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Khanal said the two sides were positive about the visit and were preparing for it. He also said Shah's address at the UN General Assembly had drawn considerable international attention.

At Tribhuvan International Airport, Khanal said, "Nepal and India both sides are waiting for a result-oriented and meaningful visit of Prime Minister Balendra Shah to India." Replying to a question, he said, "Although both sides are positive regarding the visit, the date for the Prime Minister's official visit to India is yet to be fixed."

Khanal said Nepal received an invitation for the Prime Minister's visit to India soon after the new government was formed and preparations were under way. "As we have been saying from the beginning, the prime minister received an invitation as soon as the government was formed, and we took it positively," he said. He added that it had been decided when the government was formed that the Prime Minister's visits to both neighbouring countries would take place on the basis of priorities, and that Nepal would clearly put forward its priorities before both countries.

Shah, who recently returned from New York, had travelled to the US for his first foreign visit after the formation of the new government under his leadership. He addressed the UN General Assembly on September 24 and raised Nepal's concerns over climate change and the impact of disasters on mountain communities. He also referred to the devastating flood Nepal faced last month and sought climate justice for a country whose contribution to climate change is negligible, linking the tragedy to climate change and global warming.

In sum, Khanal said Nepal and India are both positive about Shah's visit and are working towards a meaningful outcome, while Shah has already used his first overseas visit as prime minister to highlight Nepal's climate concerns before the international community.