The Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Uzra Zeya will visit Kathmandu on May 20-22, officials said on Friday.

Earlier there were talks that Zeya will be visiting Nepal before the May 13 local polls in the first week of May.

The Post reported Zeya’s visit in the first week of May.

But Nepali and US officials told the Post on Friday that both sides agreed on May 20-22 for the visit in view of local elections in Nepal.

Talking to the Post, an official at the US Embassy in Kathmandu said that Zeya is now planning to visit Kathmandu on May 20-22. She will meet senior officials including the prime minister and foreign minister.

Zeya will be the highest level US official to visit Nepal in almost a decade. Earlier in 2012, two US under secretaries—Wendy Sherman and María Otero—had visited Nepal.

Earlier the US side has expressed its intent to send Zeya to Nepal before local elections and proposed a date of the first week of May, according to the sources.

“Visiting Nepal prior to the elections may have been interpreted in several ways in Kathmandu so the visit as per the suggestion from the Nepali side has been rescheduled,” a Nepali official familiar with the visit told the Post on Friday.

The flurry of visits from the US coincides with the 75th anniversary of Nepal-US diplomatic ties, but it is taking place also hot on the heels of the ratification of the Millenium Challenge Corporation Compact by the Nepali Parliament.

On Thursday, during a regular press briefing, Sewa Lamsal, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, hinted that a high-level visit from the United States was on the cards but she stopped short of mentioning the official leading the American delegation.

“We are trying to hold and exchange high-level visits but there is no such specific proposal as yet. This year marks the 75th anniversary of Nepal-US diplomatic ties so we are working on some high-level visits in the near future,” she said. “Recently, the US ambassador to Nepal also met with Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka and discussed the prospects of high-level visits from the US.”

Zeya’s planned visit is taking place a month after a visit by US lawmakers.

On April 22, a US Congressional team led by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand visited Nepal.

The delegation held talks with a wide range of leaders in Nepal including Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. The delegation also held talks with former prime ministers KP Sharma Oli, chairman of the CPN-UML. But the delegation did not meet with Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota and chairman of the CPN (Maoist Centre) Pushpa Kamal Dahal and other former prime ministers of Nepal.

Zeya is also concurrently serving as the United States Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues.

The US has been expressing concerns about Tibetan refugees living in Nepal and has been putting pressure to provide identity cards to as many as 10,000 Tibetan refugees living in Nepal.

Nepal has stopped issuing identity cards to the Tibetan refugees since 1995.

Tibetan refugees in Nepal are one of major security concerns of China.

A senior Nepali official told the Post that the series of visits from Washington indicates that there will be more high-level exchanges from both sides later this year.

“The Biden administration as already extended an invitation to Prime Minister Deuba to visit the US and there is also a possibility of a visit at the highest level from Washington, probably by Vice President Kamala Devi Harris or Secretary of State Antony John Blinken, after the local polls,” said another senior Nepali official familiar with the developments.