Visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Sunday extended Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli for a visit to India.

He extended the invitation during his courtesy call on Prime Minister Oli at the Prime Minister’s Office at Singha Durbar. “Oli thanked [him] for the invitation,” the prime minister’s secretariat said.

Foreign ministry officials and Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava were among those present at the meeting.

Misri arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday morning on a two-day official visit at the invitation of his Nepali counterpart Amrit Bahadur Rai.

According to the Embassy of India in Kathmandu, the foreign secretary during the meeting reaffirmed the deep civilisational ties and strong India-Nepal partnership, and discussed ways to further strengthen cooperation across various sectors.

Misri also called on President Ramchandra Paudel at Sheetal Niwas later in the afternoon.

During the courtesy call, Paudel highlighted the deep-rooted cultural, religious and economic ties between Nepal and India, underscoring the importance of trust, equality and mutual respect in bilateral relations. He welcomed India’s “Neighbourhood first” policy, saying Nepal has always placed relations with its southern neighbour at the highest priority.

According to Kiran Pokhrel, press advisor to President Paudel, the head of state recalled that Nepal has benefited from India’s socio-economic and technological progress and hopes to draw even greater advantage as a close neighbour and friend.

Misri later called on Nepali Congress President and former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at his Budhanilkantha residence and CPN (Maoist Centre) chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal in Khumaltar.

“Our discussions focused on further strengthening the close and multifaceted Nepal-India relations, built on mutual trust, goodwill, and shared aspirations for prosperity and stability in our region,” Deuba wrote on X after the meeting.

Dahal, who is also the leader of the main opposition in Parliament, expressed satisfaction over seeing progress on the bilateral agreements reached between Nepal and India during his tenure as prime minister.

“We had an engaging conversation on matters of national and global importance, and a thoughtful exchange on further strengthening the deep-rooted ties between Nepal and India,” Dahal wrote on X.

Dahal’s personal secretary Govinda Acharya said that the party chief expressed happiness over the implementation of the agreements signed during his India visit. “The agreement on energy trade reached during the visit has been implemented, which is good,” Acharya quoted Dahal as saying after the meeting.

The Indian foreign secretary also called on Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba at the ministry. Their discussions covered various dimensions of Nepal-India relations, including mutual interests, connectivity, trade facilitation and development cooperation, according to the minister’s private secretariat.

Minister Deuba stressed the need for expanding air connectivity between the two countries adding direct flights from Indian cities to Gautam Buddha International Airport, Pokhara International Airport, and a proposed Nepalgunj-Delhi route.

“She sought support for creating a favourable environment for additional air routes,” the secretariat said in a press note issued after the meeting.

She also raised concerns over difficulties faced by Nepalis while exporting plywood and steel products to India and hassles under India’s Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

Later in the evening, Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Rai and Misri held bilateral talks.

“The discussions covered a wide range of issues, including connectivity, trade and development cooperation, underscoring the strong bond between the two nations,” the ministry of foreign affairs said.

This is Misri’s second official visit to Nepal since assuming office in July last year. His engagements in Kathmandu was to lay the groundwork for Prime Minister Oli’s India visit.