If things go as planned, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will be visiting Spain at the end of June and India by July-end.

With dates of his Spain visit almost confirmed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has started the groundwork but officials said preparations for Oli’s much-awaited India visit are still in an initial phase. Kathmandu has of late received some positive signals from New Delhi about the prime ministerial visit, officials said.

Oli is attending the Fourth United Nations International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), which will be held in Seville, Spain, from June 30 to July 3, 2025.

This high-level gathering brings together heads of state, government representatives, and other stakeholders to discuss international cooperation on financing for sustainable development. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is preparing to send a delegation to the event.

“We have also asked Madrid to arrange for a prime ministerial bilateral visit on this occasion,” a senior foreign ministry official said.

But Spain is yet to give its nod for the bilateral visit. If the prime minister undertakes a bilateral visit to the European country, according to officials, he will meet senior Spanish officials and some agreements will be signed between Kathmandu and Madrid.

International Conferences on Financing for Development are the only space where leaders from all governments, along with international and regional organisations, financial and trade institutions, businesses, civil society and the UN System unite at the highest levels, fostering stronger international cooperation, the organiser’s website states.

Simultaneously, multiple officials at the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi told the Post that initial work for the prime minister’s India visit, which will most likely be in July, has started.

Had the Pahalgam terrorist attack not happened, the prime minister's India visit would have taken place in the month of June, multiple officials said. The ensuing India-Pakistan clashes pushed the visit back, they added.

After indications from New Delhi, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava is doing his bit in Kathmandu while the Nepali ambassador to India, Shankar Sharma, is also making arrangements in the Indian capital, three officials familiar with the developments said.

“I am familiar with the prime minister’s Spain visit [plan] but I don’t know much about his India visit,” said Bishnu Rimal, chief political adviser to Oli. “But as the two prime ministers [Oli and Modi] have met twice [before], there is always a possibility of a visit between us.”

Oli, who was appointed prime minister in July last year, has been pushing for an official visit to India but his efforts have so far failed for several reasons. In his latest stint as prime minister, Prime Minister Oli has met his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, twice, in New York and Bangkok, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly and the sixth Bimstec summit, respectively.

The stability of the CPN-UML-Nepal Congress coalition he leads also pushed New Delhi to take a conciliatory approach, a UML leader said. “Now we hope PM Oli will soon visit India.”

Under Oli’s leadership, Nepal in 2020 adopted a new political map showing Lipulekh, Limpiadhura and Kalapani, the areas currently occupied by India. There have since been no serious efforts to find an amicable solution to the dispute.

As prime minister, Oli has made some public remarks that are deemed to have offended India, leading the Indian establishment to harden its line on Oli, adding to the uncertainty of this Delhi visit.

Another irritant in Nepal-India relationship has been Modi’s refusal to receive a report prepared by the Eminent Persons’ Group on resolving outstanding issues between the two countries.

There is indication from Delhi that they might host the prime minister in the month of July “but we have yet to get the invite”, said another senior UML leader. “We expect India to extend an invitation as soon as we offer a convenient time to us.”

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Krishna Prasad Dhakal did not want to comment on either of the two visits.