Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri held talks with senior Nepali government officials on Wednesday, discussing potential agendas for Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s upcoming visit to India.

Misri arrived in Kathmandu on Wednesday for a two-day visit at the invitation of his Nepali counterpart, Amrit Bahadur Rai. He paid courtesy calls separately on Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle, Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal, Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, Minister of Infrastructure Development among others before holding delegation-level talks with Rai, with the prime minister’s proposed India visit featuring prominently in the discussions.

The visit comes as Kathmandu and New Delhi step up diplomatic engagements to prepare for Shah’s proposed official visit to India, expected in the second half of November. Although neither side has formally announced the dates, diplomatic engagements are ongoing, with November 22 to 25 emerging as the likely window for the visit.

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 some senior ministers in the Indian capital.

On Thursday, Misri is scheduled to pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Shah and hand over an invitation from Modi.

Government officials told the Post that all three meetings on Wednesday took place in a positive atmosphere, with the Indian side appearing receptive to concerns raised by Nepal.

Misri’s visit has three broad objectives: engaging with Nepal’s new government, discussing the agenda for the prime minister’s upcoming visit, and meeting senior political leaders, including Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane and Nepali Congress President Gagan Thapa.

During the meeting between Rai and Misri, the two sides discussed possible agendas for Prime Minister Shah’s upcoming visit and explored other areas of cooperation.

Misri’s meetings with Finance Minister Wagle and Foreign Minister Khanal also went well, with discussions covering Nepal’s request for financial assistance from India, connectivity, trade and transit, energy, education, sports, and border-related issues, a senior finance ministry official said.

Nepal is seeking more than $2 billion in a combination of lines of credit, grants and other Indian economic assistance for reconstruction and rebuilding infrastructure damaged by the Bhotekoshi floods. Of the proposed amount, Nepal is seeking $1 billion as a line of credit, $500 million in grants and another $500 million for reconstruction and rebuilding.

The talks discussed the exchange of high-level visits, connectivity, trade, development cooperation, energy and people-to-people relations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated after the meeting. 

The discussions between the two foreign secretaries focused on six areas of interest, a senior foreign ministry official said.

The first was preparations for high-level visits and exchanges between the two countries. Both sides have begun groundwork and will soon exchange the proposed itinerary of Shah’s visit, prospective agendas for discussion and issues requiring political attention.

On the table are the longstanding boundary dispute, India's approval for additional air-entry points for Nepal, the widening trade gap between the two countries, transit arrangement, and the need to expedite pending projects, including the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project. The two sides also discussed issues and challenges facing Indian hydropower projects in Nepal, the official said.

There is also a broader understanding between the two sides to accelerate connectivity projects, particularly in air, rail and road transport, bridges, cross-border petroleum pipelines, transmission lines and digital connectivity, the official added.

“We opened the chapter on the bilateral agendas to be discussed and concluded during the upcoming prime ministerial visit,” the official said.

Lok Bahadur Poudel Chhetri, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the two sides had a constructive discussion and touched upon multiple issues and areas of cooperation.

The meeting also saw discussions on India's assistance for Nepal's reconstruction and rehabilitation following the Bhotekoshi floods, said Chhetri. India has expressed its readiness to assist with this reconstruction and rehabilitation but the extent and modalities of this support have not been finalised.

Indian Foreign Secretary Misri stated that the meeting focused on the comprehensive agenda for the prime minister’s visit. He noted that Nepal and India have been partners through good times and bad. He remarked that the difficult circumstances following the Rasuwa floods have provided an opportunity to demonstrate this partnership, according to the Nepali officials.

"We recognise that this event has caused extensive damage and destruction to Nepal’s infrastructure," Misri was quoted as saying. India stands ready to consider proposals for support with reconstruction and rehabilitation, he pledged.

Preliminary bilateral consultation on reconstruction and rehabilitation has been held. "We are keen to engage in further, more detailed discussions on this matter with the leadership in Nepal," the visiting secretary added.

Since taking office on March 27, Prime Minister Shah has not gone on an official bilateral foreign visit.

India extended an invitation to Shah soon after the formation of his government. India remains Nepal’s largest trading partner and a major source of foreign investment.

The two countries have more than 40 bilateral mechanisms to look into issues concerning border management, trade, security, water resources, hydropower and connectivity.

The foreign secretary-level meeting follows Khanal’s official visit to India in June, during which he held talks with India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. 

During Shah’s visit, the two prime ministers are expected to inaugurate several projects completed with Indian assistance, jointly launch construction of India-funded projects in Nepal and 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 start construction on the integrated check post in Dodhara Chandani, the Lower Arun hydropower project and a petroleum pipeline extending from Siliguri in India to Charali, Jhapa in Nepal.