Nepal Prime Minister Balen Shah, who has maintained a strict protocol of meeting only his counterparts with foreign envoys, is set to break his self-imposed rule and meet the envoys from India and China this week.ย
While the exact dates have yet to be announced, the meetings are being coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and are expected to take place this week, according to a report by The Kathmandu Post. The move comes as Nepal tries to balance its relations with India and China while rebuilding itself after the recent student-led revolution.
The report also noted that to underscore that New Delhi and Beijing are important relationships, Shah would be meeting India Ambassador Naveen Srivastava and China Ambassador Zhang Maoming on the same day.
Balen Shahโs rule on only meeting counterparts
Shah took office as Prime Minister in March this year, propelled by a Gen-Z-led movement that toppled the previous administration led by KP Oli. Since taking power, however, he has broken from standard diplomatic norms by declining to hold individual meetings with foreign envoys.
Because of this stance, he has turned down meeting requests from India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, China’s Deputy Commerce Minister and Communist Party official Yan Dong, and the US’s Assistant Secretary of State Samir Paul Kapur, as well as US special envoy Sergio Gor.
Refusal to meet Indian diplomatย and a turnaround
When India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri sought to visit Kathmandu in May, Balen Shah reportedly declined to meet him, maintaining a position that he would not meet with anyone below the rank of foreign minister.ย
Even before this, he had avoided a separate meeting with the Indian ambassador to Nepal, choosing instead to see him only as part of a larger group of envoys.
Shah requested to meet India officials personally
According to reports, even members of Shah’s own cabinet, including Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle and Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal, had earlier pushed him to meet with senior officials from India, China, and the US. The PM, however, ignored their advice at the time.
That position now seems to be shifting. Nearly four months into his tenure, Shah has decided to drop his self-imposed rule and begin holding separate one-on-one meetings with foreign envoys, starting with the ambassadors of India and China.
The development comes in the backdrop of the Nepalese government removing the controversial political map on the newly announced one-rupee coin, which incorporated the disputed territories of Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh, and Kalapani.ย
By holding these meetings now, Shah is attempting to smooth over diplomatic waters and balance ties between New Delhi and Beijing in a delicate post-revolution climate.
Also read:ย What does Nepal’s move to remove disputed India map from coin signals? Is it to renew ties with New Delhi?
ย