Prime Minister Balendra Shah is set to begin one-on-one meetings with Kathmandu-based key diplomatic stakeholders on Monday, breaking his self-imposed rule of avoiding individual engagements with foreign ambassadors.

Shah will meet Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava and Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming separately on Monday, before holding a similar meeting with the US Embassy’s Chargé d’Affaires Scott Urbom on Tuesday. Even as Shah had planned to meet them two weeks back the plan was deferred following the communal violence in Sunsari and other districts.

The decision to meet the ambassadors of Nepal’s two immediate neighbours on the same day appears intended to underscore their equal importance to Nepal, although the scheduling retains the government’s stated foreign policy priority of engaging India first, followed by China.

“The Indian ambassador is told to come first followed by the Chinese ambassador. So both ambassadors are meeting the prime minister on the same day, but the earlier and later timings also show the foreign policy priority of the government,” a senior Foreign Ministry official told the Post. “The next day, the prime minister will meet the acting US ambassador, who is Nepal’s other important and friendly development partner with a long history.”

Srivastava will call on Shah at the Prime Minister’s Office in the first half of Monday, while Zhang will meet him in the second half of the day. The Foreign Ministry has communicated the appointments to the respective embassies, according to a prime ministerial adviser.

“It is only natural to begin with the ambassadors of our two neighbours, India and China, given Nepal’s foreign policy priorities,” said an aide to the prime minister.

The meetings will be the first one-on-one courtesy calls between Shah and Kathmandu-based ambassadors since he became prime minister on March 27. The agenda is expected to be largely introductory, with the ambassadors briefing Shah on the state of bilateral relations and conveying any messages from their respective governments.

It has yet to be decided which officials will attend the meetings. Foreign Ministry officials, most likely the respective division heads, are expected to accompany the ambassadors, along with officials from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The only exception to Shah’s earlier policy of avoiding individual meetings with foreign representatives was his meeting with Asian Development Bank President Masato Kanda, who visited Nepal for three days beginning July 6.

Shah had initially adopted a policy of avoiding one-on-one meetings not only with ambassadors but also with visiting senior foreign officials. He declined requests from the US Embassy in Kathmandu for meetings with US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Samir Paul Kapur and President Donald Trump’s special envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor.

US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah B. Rogers also did not receive an audience with Shah during her visit to Nepal.

Instead, Shah held joint meetings with Kathmandu-based ambassadors on April 9 and May 26. The move was widely welcomed by Nepali diplomats, foreign policy experts and observers, who viewed the group meetings as a more transparent and equitable approach to diplomatic engagement.

The policy, however, was increasingly seen as difficult to sustain as Shah began broadening his engagement with domestic stakeholders.

After his government completed 100 days in office, political adviser Asim Shah and other advisers recommended that the prime minister begin meeting domestic stakeholders, including businesspeople, media representatives and contractors as well as Kathmandu-based ambassadors, according to a prime ministerial aide.

The plan for individual meetings with ambassadors was subsequently put on hold following sudden protests and violent demonstrations in the Tarai-Madhesh region.

In recent weeks, however, Shah has increasingly moved away from his earlier reluctance to meet stakeholders individually. He has been holding consultations with Madhesh-based political parties and lawmakers and meeting business representatives, including traders, contractors, industrialists and exporters.

His decision to begin one-on-one diplomatic meetings is part of that broader shift in his style of engagement, according to the aide.