Prime Minister KP Sharming Oli, leading the Nepali delegation to the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, reached the United States on Saturday.

During his 10-day US stay, besides addressing the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 26, the prime minister will attend and speak at several other functions on the sidelines and meet world leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This is Oli’s first foreign visit after being appointed the prime minister for the third term on July 15.

According to the itinerary seen by the Post, the prime minister is scheduled to attend the Glasshouse for the Parliamentary Forum on Fossil Fuel event and deliver his keynote at the event in New York on Saturday. The same evening, he is due to attend a welcome reception by Nepal’s permanent representative to the UN, Lok Bahadur Thapa.

On Sunday, the prime minister will take part in the opening session of the Summit of the Future organised by UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres, and co-chair the interactive Dialogue 1 of the summit. Later in the afternoon, he is scheduled to speak at the summit’s plenary session.

On Sunday afternoon, Volker Türk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, will call on Prime Minister Oli. After that, a meeting between Oli and Dasho Tshering Tobgay, the prime minister of Bhutan, has been fixed, according to the itinerary.

Oli will then meet the crown prince of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Mubarak Al- Sabah.

“Issues of bilateral and common interest, and other regional and global issues will be discussed in the bilateral meetings,” said a senior foreign ministry official.

Between 5:30 and 6:00 local time on Sunday evening, a bilateral meeting has been scheduled between Oli and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi.

The meeting between the two prime ministers was due. It was slated to be held earlier in Bangkok, Thailand, during an early September summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. But the plan fell through after the sixth BIMSTEC summit was postponed citing technical issues.

The Oli-Modi meeting is expected to lay the ground for expediting cooperation between Nepal and India and help clear the misunderstanding between the two leaders. Bilateral relations hit a low after a boundary dispute flared between Nepal and India in 2020. Countering the Indian political map issued in November 2019, the Oli government in May 2020 issued a new political map of Nepal and subsequently amended the constitution to incorporate it. The map episode created deep mistrust between Oli and Modi.

The New York meeting could clear the misunderstanding and help put Oli’s relationship with Modi and the Indian establishment back on track, according to officials from the prime minister’s secretariat.

The Nepali side made many efforts to set up a meeting between Oli and Modi. “Besides discussing bilateral issues, the meeting will focus on removing mistrust and trust deficit between the two leaders,” said a foreign ministry official.

After meeting Modi, the prime minister will interact with the Nepali community in New York.

On Monday, the prime minister will attend the plenary session of the Summit of the Future. Later in the afternoon, he will visit UNICEF House for his keynote speech on ‘Lead-Free Future: Partnership Launch and Pledging Event’.

The prime minister will then leave for Columbia University where he will address a gathering for over one-and-a-half hours. He will also interact with Nepalis pursuing higher studies there, according to the itinerary.

On Tuesday morning, the prime minister will attend a welcome reception by the UN secretary general. Next, he will join the general debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters.

On Tuesday afternoon, USAID Administrator Samantha Power will call on the prime minister, according to the itinerary. She visited Nepal in February last year and discussed a wide range of issues with Nepali political leaders, officials and civil society members.

The prime minister will have separate meetings with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, President of Finland, Alexander Stabb, and the prime minister of Samoa, Fiamē Naomi Mata‘afa.

Nepal and Finland are marking 50 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year, said foreign ministry officials. Issues of bilateral concerns and matters are due to be discussed on the UNGA sidelines.

On Wednesday morning, the chief executive officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Alice Albright, will pay a courtesy call on Oli, according to the itinerary. The MCC is executing two projects in Nepal, with the organisation pitching in $500 million and the Nepal government injecting $197 million.

On the same day, the prime minister will attend Climate Vulnerable Forum Leaders’ meeting, and address the high-plenary meeting on existential threats posed by sea-level rise. He will then deliver a keynote at an event of AMPATH, which runs health-related programmes in Nepal with Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences and Dhulikhel Hospital.

The prime minister will also hold a bilateral meeting with Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and discuss bilateral issues and the stalled SAARC process, said officials.

On Wednesday evening, the prime minister will attend the reception hosted by US President Joe Biden on the occasion of the UN General Assembly in honour of the participating heads of state, government and other heads of delegations.

On Thursday morning, according to the itinerary, the prime minister will have a bilateral meeting with Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, followed by separate bilateral meetings with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone of Laos. After these meetings, the prime minister will address a high-level meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).

On Thursday afternoon, a meeting with President of the General Assembly Philemon Yang has been fixed. The same evening, Oli will address the 79th general assembly of the United Nations. On Friday, the prime minister will leave for Boston, where he will speak at Harvard University and answer questions.

On Saturday, the prime minister will have ‘executive time’ in and around Boston. On Sunday, he will leave Boston for Kathmandu via Qatar.

The prime minister and the Nepali delegation will arrive home on Monday evening. The prime minister’s spouse, Radhika Shakya, will attend the ‘Bridal Treasures: A Journey through Ottoman and Anatolian Dowries’ event organised by Turkey’s first lady, Emine Erdoğan, on Monday and take part in the luncheon hosted by US first lady Jill Biden on Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Arzu Rana will attend the Ministerial Meeting on Least Developed Countries (LDCs) where she will chair the Global Coordination Bureau of LDCs. Nepal is the current chair of the LDCs bureau. The foreign minister will also attend an event on implementing the Doha Programme of Actions and its Deliverables to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the G-20 Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting to be organised by Brazil, among other events, on the sidelines of the General Assembly, according to the foreign ministry.

The prime minister leads a 20-member delegation to the UNGA. Separately, three other teams are attending the Summit of the Future. Joining them will be diplomats and officials from the permanent mission of Nepal to the United Nations in New York, the Nepali Embassy in Washington and Nepal’s consulate general in New York.