Foreign Secy Misri discusses bilateral cooperation ahead of PM Balendra Shah's India visit

According to a joint press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, Misri visited Nepal on November 4-5 at the invitation of Nepalese Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri held a series of high-level meetings with Nepalese leadership during his two-day official visit to Nepal, reviewing bilateral cooperation across various sectors and discussing possible outcomes and initiatives ahead of Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah's upcoming visit to India. According to a joint press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, Misri visited Nepal on November 4-5 at the invitation of Nepalese Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai.

Misri called on Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah and conveyed greetings from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two also discussed the progress of bilateral cooperation and preparations for Shah's upcoming visit to India. The Foreign Secretary highlighted the "wide-ranging engagement and overall progress in diverse areas of bilateral cooperation" and discussed possible outcomes and initiatives in the context of the upcoming visit of the Nepalese Prime Minister to India.

Misri also called on Nepal's Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle, Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, and Minister for Infrastructure Development Sunil Lamsal. On Wednesday, the two Foreign Secretaries held delegation-level talks during which they reviewed ongoing cooperation across diverse sectors and discussed ways to further strengthen the mutually beneficial partnership between India and Nepal.

As part of his engagements, Misri also interacted with a group of parliamentarians, including members of the India-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship Group and Nepal's Parliamentary Committee on International Relations and Tourism. The joint release said that during the various engagements, Nepalese leadership expressed gratitude for India's "swift and substantial humanitarian and technical assistance" in the aftermath of the Rasuwa-Bhotekoshi floods.

Both sides also noted with satisfaction the growing engagement in traditionally strong areas of bilateral cooperation, including trade and commerce, development partnership, hydropower, physical connectivity, border management, energy and people-to-people ties. The discussions also covered newer avenues for collaboration, including start-ups, digital connectivity, artificial intelligence (AI) and sports.

"Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to all round enhancement of the bilateral partnership," the joint press release stated. The joint release further said that the visit continued the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries to further advance their close bilateral ties of friendship and cooperation. (ANI)