Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri wrapped up his two-day introductory visit to Nepal on Monday after discussing various issues and matters of mutual interest with Nepali officials, according to the statements issued by the two sides on Monday evening.

During his 32-hour-long stay, Misri called on President Ramchandra Paudel, Prime Minister KP Oli, deputy prime ministers Prakash Man Singh and Bishnu Paudel, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, and Foreign Minister Arzu Rana. Misri held talks with his Nepali counterpart, Sewa Lamsal, before wrapping up the visit.

Misri’s meeting with Foreign Minister Rana revolved around different facets of bilateral ties, including economic and developmental cooperation, according to a statement issued by Rana’s private secretariat.

In the meeting, Rana urged increasing air connectivity between Nepal and India and asked for additional air routes to Nepal.

She also urged setting up a sophisticated laboratory at the Nepal-India border to measure the quality of the vegetables and fruits being imported from India and the presence of pesticides in them.

Moreover, Rana also raised some of the pending issues between Nepal and India, including expediting the negotiations for the finalisation of the detailed project report (DPR) of the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project that has been in limbo for years.

According to the statement, many differences between Nepal and India regarding the project have already been sorted out, and the technical committee will deal with the remaining differences. Rana also raised the issue of discharging the water in the Tanakpur canal, river training in the Banganga, Khado, and Rapti rivers with Indian assistance, and the inauguration of the suspension bridge in Darchula that will link Nepal and India.

Meanwhile, Misri and Foreign Secretary Lamsal discussed activating the bilateral mechanisms as well as expediting various India-funded projects in Nepal.

According to Amrit Bahadur Rai, the foreign ministry spokesperson, during the meeting, both sides reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral ties and discussed ways to move ahead in the future.

“We discussed the status of the India-funded projects in Nepal and ways to resume the meetings of various mechanisms between Nepal and India,” Rai said. “We made a cursory review of Nepal-India relations and discussed how to move ahead in the future. This is not a structured meeting because the Indian foreign secretary came here for the introductory visit.”

There is a tradition among Indian foreign secretaries of visiting neighbouring countries after being appointed, and Misri was in Nepal in continuation of that tradition, Rai said. “We didn’t forge any agreement and understandings.”

Given that Nepal and India have the highest numbers of bilateral mechanisms involving various ministries, discussion was focused on strengthening the bilateral ties while holding the meetings of these mechanisms, Rai added.

The two sides reviewed the overall aspects of Nepal-India relations, including cooperation between the two countries in the areas of energy and power sector, physical and digital connectivity, agriculture, trade and transit, tourism, and people-to-people relations, the foreign ministry said in a statement. The two foreign secretaries agreed to continue to advance engagements between the two sides, including through regular meetings of the bilateral mechanisms.

Misri also met with deputy prime ministers duo Paudel and Singh at their respective chambers.

In the meetings, the two sides discussed the status of India-funded projects in Nepal. Misri stated that if any project faces any problem, both sides will sit, discuss and remove the bottlenecks. Paudel stated in his meeting with Misri that Nepal needs continuous Indian assistance and support in the future.

Meanwhile, in his meeting with Misri, another deputy Prime Minister Singh urged the construction of more bridges over the rivers along the Nepal-India boundary.

Nepal is seeking Indian permission to construct a bridge over the Mahakali river, but the Indian side has not given its consent yet.

Nepal does not have dedicated bridges over the Mahakali river, and locals are forced to ferry goods using the tuin crossings, said Singh.

He also urged the construction of the bridge over the Mahakali river in Darchula district be simplified. Nepali people are forced to use Indian territory to cross the Mahakali river, and there have also been cases of deaths of Nepali citizens while crossing the tuins.

In response, according to the private secretariat of DPM Singh, the Indian secretary stated that India was positive about allowing Nepal to construct a bridge over the Mahakali river. Both Singh and Misri also touched upon India’s infrastructure support and assistance to Nepal and explored the possibility of cooperation in the field of urban development and planning.

Misri also made a courtesy call on Home Minister Lekhak, where they discussed controlling cross-border criminal activities, and the issue of controlling narcotics from the bordering areas, among others, according to the home ministry.

Lekhak stated that India had become an important partner of Nepal in areas like security, infrastructure, energy, and water resources and thanked the government of India for providing assistance for the upgrade of the capacity of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force. Lekhak also committed that Nepal will not allow its lands to be used against its neighbours.

Misri took up his new role last month, succeeding Vinay Mohan Kwatra, who served as Indian ambassador to Nepal from March 2020 to April 2022. Misri undertook his first familiarisation visit to Bhutan on July 18. The 59-year-old bureaucrat has had a distinguished career, having served as private secretary to three prime ministers—Inder Kumar Gujral in 1997, Manmohan Singh in 2012, and Narendra Modi in 2014. Known as a China expert within the Indian foreign policy establishment, Misri was India’s ambassador to China (2019-2021) and played a key role in India-China negotiations following the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes that resulted from the actions of the Chinese military in eastern Ladakh.

Nepal ‘a priority partner’

Meanwhile, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that Nepal is a priority partner of India under its Neighbourhood First policy.

The foreign secretary’s visit continued the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries and helped in advancing bilateral ties further, said India’s foreign ministry in a statement issued after Misri’s visit to Kathmandu.

On Misri's meeting with Lamsal, the MEA said that their wide-ranging discussions covered various aspects of multifaceted cooperation between India and Nepal.

Both foreign secretaries reviewed the progress made in various bilateral initiatives and developmental projects and discussed opportunities for further collaboration, said the MEA.

In his meeting with Paudel and Oli, Misri conveyed to them greetings from the leadership in India and also briefed them on the progress being made in various aspects of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

“During the various engagements, both sides affirmed the close and friendly relations between India and Nepal which are deeply rooted in historical, cultural, civilizational and people-to-people ties,” read the MEA statement. “Both sides noted with satisfaction the substantial progress achieved in the recent years in bilateral cooperation, especially in the various areas of connectivity—physical, digital, energy as well as people-to-people, which is manifested in the steady implementation of infrastructure projects related to roads, bridges, Integrated Check Posts, cross-border railways as well as petroleum pipelines.”

Both sides also appreciated the progress made in the mutually beneficial partnership in the field of power sector cooperation, which has seen substantial progress in recent years, the statement further said. “In this context, it was noted with satisfaction that the manifold increase in Nepal's hydropower export to India in the last 2-3 years has created an additional source of revenue for Nepal and of clean energy for India,” the statement read, adding the role of power sector cooperation in Nepal’s graduation from LDC status in 2026 was also highlighted.

The Indian foreign secretary also met a few other senior political leaders and members of Nepal’s civil society.