The US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday evening on a two-day official visit. Nuland is the senior-most foreign dignitary to visit Nepal after the formation of the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government in the last week of December.

According to a statement released by the State Department, Nuland’s Nepal visit will focus on engaging with the new government on the broad agenda of the US partnership with Nepal.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Sewa Lamal concurred with the US position saying that Nuland’s visit will be focused on the US-Nepal partnership after the formation of the new government in Kathmandu.

“The visit does not have a specific agenda, the topic of discussion will be known after a meeting takes place,” Lamsal told the Post. “All the formal meetings are scheduled for Monday.”

Nuland is scheduled to meet senior government officials, including Prime Minister Dahal and Foreign Minister Bimala Rai Paudyal at an official level on Monday.

Apart from the official meeting, Nuland will also meet Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, and other political leaders on Monday itself. Before wrapping up her visit on Monday, she will also interact with journalists.

Nuland is the senior-most US official to come to Kathmandu after the visit of US Under Secretary for Civilian Security-Democracy and Human Rights Uzra Zeya last May. Nuland has the experience of working with three American presidents, Joe Biden, Barack Obama and George W Bush.