On the heels of Rastriya Swatantra Party Chairman Rabi Lamichhane’s India tour, Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal is going to New Delhi on June 6 on an official visit.

At the invitation of External Affairs Minister of India S Jaishankar, Minister Khanal will be in the Indian capital on a three-day visit, a senior official at the foreign ministry told the Post. This is Khanal's first official visit to India after being appointed the foreign minister on April 27.

Earlier, he attended the Ninth Indian Ocean Conference in Mauritius where he held talks with Jaishankar and other regional leaders. But he has not embarked on an official visit to any country after assuming office.

In Mauritius, both Khanal and Jaishankar discussed ways to advance Nepal-India relations in the changed context and agreed to discuss in Kathmandu in detail the priorities of the new government.

Jaishankar had offered to send Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to Kathmandu to engage with the new government and learn about its priorities but the visit did not go ahead after Prime Minister Balendra Shah refused to meet him, citing protocol reasons. Besides, a boundary dispute resurfaced after India and China decided to resume the pilgrimage to Kailash-Manasarovar via Lipulekh, which has traditionally been a part of the Nepali territory.

After Misri’s visit to Kathmandu was postponed, Khanal was invited to attend the first international big cat conference in Delhi. But the conference scheduled for June 1 was postponed after the Ebola outbreak in some African countries.

As Lamichhane has already opened the discussion, Khanal will represent the government and will hold a discussion with his Indian counterpart, Jaishankar and others.

The Nepali side has already sent a request to the Indian side for a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the foreign ministry official. Sources in Kathmandu and New Delhi told the Post that Khanal will hold meetings with Jaishankar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goel and others.

Talking to the BBC Nepali Service, Deepak Bohora, a Rastriya Swatantra Party lawmaker, said from New Delhi that as soon as Lamichhane returns, Minister Khanal will fly to India.

The two foreign ministers will discuss the possibility of higher-level visits from both sides, besides Jaishankar’s visit to Kathmandu.

Foreign Minister Khanal has already held a series of discussions with some key ministers and discussed the status of India-funded projects and Nepal’s priorities.

During Khanal’s visit, from connectivity projects to resolving the boundary dispute, the two sides will seek a breakthrough in some pending projects such as Pancheshwar, East-West Railway, Janakpur-Ayodhya railway, Indian flights to Pokhara and Bhairahawa International Airports, and issues related to trade and transit.

As there is friction in bilateral relations due to the boundary dispute, the foreign ministers will also discuss ways to resolve it. The issue flared after Prime Minister Balendra Shah made a statement in Parliament on Sunday that Nepal had sought the UK’s help to settle the border dispute.

India subsequently responded that the issue should be handled through established bilateral mechanisms while rejecting third-party mediation of the international border. As Lamichhane outlined possible cooperation in the digital sector in his Delhi trip, the two foreign ministers will take up the agenda.

With Minister Goel, Khanal is expected to discuss petroleum pipeline expansion, lifting of the Indian ban on sugar exports to Nepal, and the implementation of QR payments in India by Nepalis.