Kathmandu and New Delhi have begun preparations for Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s visit to India, which is expected to take place in the third or fourth week of November. It would be his first official bilateral visit abroad since he took office in March.

The dates have yet to be finalised, a high-level diplomatic source told the Post. Some Nepali and Indian media outlets have reported that Shah will be in India from November 23 to 25, but officials at the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said no dates had been fixed.

The visit is expected to last three days, and Shah is unlikely to travel beyond New Delhi, according to sources. He will hold delegation-level talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and meet other senior Indian ministers. Foreign ministry officials said the two sides are expected to sign a series of agreements and memorandums of understanding.

Modi invited him to visit India at a mutually convenient time soon after Shah was sworn in. Shah’s only trip abroad so far was to New York in September for the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal attended the same session. After returning, he did not confirm a date for the visit and said only that it would take place at an appropriate time. He said both governments wanted the visit to be “fruitful and result-oriented”.

Two senior foreign ministry officials told the Post that even though the date of the visit has not been confirmed, both sides have exchanged the list of projects to be inaugurated during Shah’s trip.

“There are some serious and thorny issues which need to be discussed with Indians, like boundary, air routes for Nepal via India, trade imbalance, among others. Consultations for the trip will take place after Dashain,” one of those officials told the Post. 

Shankar Sharma, Nepal’s former ambassador to India, told the Post that several projects are ready for inauguration, construction is set to begin on others, and the two sides are expected to sign agreements on new initiatives.

The projects slated for inauguration include the Nepal Police Academy in Panauti, Kavrepalanchok; a bridge in Darchula; the integrated check post in Bhairahawa; and a motorable bridge over the Mahakali River. The two prime ministers are also expected to jointly mark the start of construction on the integrated check post in Dodhara Chandani, the Lower Arun hydropower project, and a petroleum pipeline extending from Siliguri in India to Jhapa in Nepal.

Officials are also considering putting several major hydropower projects on the agenda, since most bilateral mechanisms have already completed their meetings. These include the 750MW West Seti, the 480MW Phukot Karnali and the 450MW Seti River-6 projects. India’s state-owned NHPC is involved in all three.

Other items expected to come up include a project on the Koshi River, the Ayodhya-Janakpur railway, and Indian support for Nepal’s ambitions in artificial intelligence.

Nepal is also seeking Indian grants and concessional loans for reconstruction and recovery after the August 26 Bhotekoshi disaster. Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle has already visited India and discussed possible assistance for post-flood reconstruction.

Meanwhile, Nepali officials are working to reach an understanding with India on several longstanding and contentious issues. These include the boundary dispute, additional air-entry points for Nepal, the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project, and trade and transit arrangements.