Kathmandu, 21 Jul: Fourteen months after taking office, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is set to visit India. He is scheduled to travel to India starting Bhadra 31 (September 16), at the invitation of his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi. However, an official announcement of the visit is yet to be made.
According to officials at the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi, India has already extended the invitation to Oli, and both sides have agreed on the dates of the visit.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lok Bahadur Kshetri confirmed that the visit has been finalized and that the official date will be announced later. “Following the invitation from the Indian counterpart, preparations are in full swing,” he said. “It’s too early to share details about the bilateral agenda, dates, and other matters. Preparations from our side are in the final stages.”
In a recent interview with journalist Vijay Kumar Pandey, Prime Minister Oli had mentioned that he would be visiting India “soon” and hinted at the possibility of Indian Prime Minister Modi visiting Nepal in November.
In the meantime, Prime Minister Oli and Indian Prime Minister Modi have already met on several occasions. Oli met Modi in New York and Bangkok. Before Oli traveled to New York in September last year to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Nepali side had also made efforts to arrange a visit to Delhi.
Although Oli and Modi held talks on the sidelines of the 79th UN General Assembly, the discussions did not lead to any concrete outcome regarding Oli’s visit to Delhi. Relations between the two neighboring countries had become strained after India issued a new map in November 2019, incorporating Nepal’s Kalapani region into Indian territory.
In response to India’s move, Nepal not only issued a new political map incorporating the territory up to Limpiyadhura, but also amended the constitution to reflect the updated map and revised the national emblem accordingly. At that time, KP Sharma Oli was serving as the prime minister.
Since then, relations between Oli and New Delhi have remained strained. According to diplomatic experts, tensions escalated further after Nepal signed the framework agreement of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) during Oli’s official visit to China in Mangsir last year. However, Oli continued efforts to improve ties with India.
In Chaitra, Oli and Modi met on the sidelines of the sixth BIMSTEC summit in Bangkok. The Nepali side claimed that this meeting was much more cordial than the one in New York. Still, according to an official at the Prime Minister’s Office, the meeting did not entirely dispel New Delhi’s doubts and distrust toward Oli. “But we maintained communication with the Indian side through various channels, and eventually the visit has been confirmed,” the official said.
According to sources at the Prime Minister’s Office, India has extended a two-day visit invitation to Oli. Accordingly, Prime Minister Oli is scheduled to visit New Delhi on Bhadra 31 (September 16), leading a Nepali delegation. On the following day, he is expected to hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Modi and sign a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding. Coincidentally, Asoj 1 (September 17) is also Modi’s birthday, which has raised optimism among government officials about the potential for positive outcomes from the visit.
Before the visit, several key meetings between Nepal and India under bilateral mechanisms are scheduled to take place. A Home Secretary-level meeting is set to begin in New Delhi on Tuesday, where major issues such as the extradition treaty and mutual legal assistance are expected to be discussed.
