Foreign secretary Vikram Misri set to visit Nepal in May as US, China engage Balen Shah

Foreign secretary Vikram Misri is planning to visit Nepal in mid-May, marking the first trip from an Indian official since the formation of the Balen Shah government in the Himalayan kingdom.

The visit will provide an opportunity to engage with the new regime at a time when both the United States and China have launched diplomatic efforts to win over the government led by Shah, a 35-year-old former rapper and structural engineer. Misri will extend a formal invitation to Prime Minister Shah to visit India.

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During a recent interaction with select Nepali journalists in New Delhi, Misri had said that he would visit Kathmandu "very soon". Earlier this month, Nepal's foreign minister Shisir Khanal held talks with external affairs minister S Jaishankar in Mauritius during the ninth Indian Ocean Conference and discussed finalisation of projects in line with Nepal's priorities.

Nepal recently hosted two back-to-back senior-level visits from the US and one from China.

US President Donald Trump's special envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor, who is also the US ambassador to India, is visiting Kathmandu on April 30, but Nepalese PM Balen Shah may not hold a meeting with him.