US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu arrived in Kathmandu on Friday.

Ambassador of the United States of America for Nepal, Dean R Thompson and officials from the Foreign Ministry received Lu at the Tribhuvan International Airport.

As per Lu’s itinerary, the US dignitary is scheduled to hold a meeting with Foreign Minister NP Saud at 4:30pm.

US Assistant Secretary of State will also pay a courtesy call to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal at 6pm, according to Dahal’s secretariat.

However, since the prime minister is mourning the death of his wife Sita, who passed away on Wednesday, Lu will call on Dahal briefly and offer his condolences.

The PM’s secretariat informed that no formal meeting has been planned.

Likewise, the US diplomat will attend a dinner hosted at the residence of the US Ambassador later in the evening followed by meetings with several leaders of various political parties before leaving Kathmandu tonight.

Lu is on a whirlwind tour of South Asian countries including India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. As per the US embassy’s Facebook post, Lu will also meet with an American Chamber of Commerce member to learn about their efforts to give Nepalis unique skills so they can compete globally.

This will be Lu’s third visit to Nepal and the first after Pushpa Kamal Dahal was elected prime minister in December last year.

Lu first visited Kathmandu in November 2021, ahead of the Parliament’s ratification of the MCC Compact to put pressure on the political leadership to endorse the compact, which was then endorsed by Parliament on February 27, 2022.

In July 2022, Lu paid his second visit to Nepal after Kathmandu refused to be part of the US State Partnership Program (SPP) against the backdrop of strong public opinion against the programme.