Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard R Verma is arriving in Kathmandu on Friday, for a two-day visit.

He will be the seniormost US official to visit Nepal since CPN-UML chair KP Oli became prime minister last month.

Verma, an important official in the Biden administration, will hold discussions on various facets of Nepal-US relations, review ongoing cooperation between the two countries, and explore new avenues for collaboration, according to officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Verma has also been given special assignments by the Biden administration. On August 6, the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken appointed Verma as a special representative for Ukraine’s economic recovery. At present, he is the second highest-ranking official at the US State Department.

“Deputy Secretary for Resources and Management Rich Verma is going to be carrying on the work that Special Envoy Penny Pritzker has started when it comes to reconstruction and economic issues as it relates to our Ukrainian partners," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday in Washington DC. Verma also served as US ambassador to India from 2014 to 2017.

During his stay in Kathmandu, he will meet with Prime Minister Oli, Foreign Minister Arzu Rana, and various stakeholders.

“The Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard R Verma will lead US delegations to Nepal on August 16 and India from August 17-22 to advance and support a prosperous, secure, and resilient future for both countries,” said a State Department statement issued on Thursday evening.

In Nepal, the US delegation will engage with senior government officials, development professionals, and business leaders to discuss shared priorities in economic development, women’s empowerment, energy, and people-to-people ties, according to the statement.

From Nepal, Deputy Secretary Verma will travel to New Delhi, India to meet with senior government officials, climate leaders, and aerospace academics and industry representatives to advance the US-Indian partnership on a full range of issues, including economic development, clean energy and climate action, and STEM education.

He will be joined in India by Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy John Podesta and Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Energy David Turk, the State Department statement says.

“The exact reasons for the visit is not known, but the visit is taking place as a new government is installed in Kathmandu,” said an official. “It shows continued US engagement with successive governments in Nepal.”

Verma was in the news in April this year after Republican Congressman Barian Mast claimed that the US government had spent half a million US dollars to promote atheism in Nepal. Verma had testified before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability and denied the allegation.

“It would not be appropriate to have a grant to promote any religion or non-religion coming from the United States,” said Verma during the testimony. “That’s not what the grant is for, and that’s not what the work would be for, and frankly we would never authorize such a grant to any organization to promote any kind of religion.”

He will leave for New Delhi on Saturday morning after completing the Nepal visit.