India renews invite to Nepal PM Balendra Shah for early Delhi visit

New Delhi: India has renewed its invitation to Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah to visit New Delhi at an early date, with a message that the country can be chosen as his first destination abroad since his election.

The invitation was renewed when ambassador Naveen Srivastava met Shah in Kathmandu on Monday. It was Shah's first one-to-one meeting with any foreign envoy, according to people familiar with the matter.

Also read: Indian envoys meet PMs of Nepal, Bangladesh as Balendra Shah ends foreign envoy meetings ban




The Nepal PM is, however, non-committal on any trip abroad as he had decided against any foreign trips during this first year in office.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, who has been invited to visit India as part of BRICS Summit outreach with certain regional groupings, could visit the country ahead of the summit for a standalone visit. However, there is no confirmation yet in this regard and the proposal for a standalone visit is being explored, said people in the know.