Indian envoys meet PMs of Nepal, Bangladesh as Balendra Shah ends foreign envoy meetings

New Delhi: Nepal PM Balendra Shah on Monday met Indian envoy Naveen Srivastav, ending his self-imposed ban on meeting foreign envoys individually.

Simultaneously, in Dhaka, Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman met Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi, days after the Bangladesh foreign ministry reacted sharply to former PM Sheikh Hasina's press meet in India.

Also read: Bangladesh PM's meeting with Narendra Modi could resolve bilateral problems: Envoy

Seeking Extradition Again

Bangladesh on Monday once again sought the extradition of Hasina. On Monday, Rahman is also said to have taken up the matter pertaining to the extradition of the accused in the case of student-leader Osman Hadi's murder last year.

Rahman has been invited to the BRICS summit outreach meeting in mid-September as the head of the country that is currently holding the BIMSTEC chair. However, there is no clarity yet on whether he would travel to Delhi.

The Bangladesh High Commission in India wrote on X that the meeting between its Prime Minister and Trivedi "is expected to go distance in cementing and advancing ties and engagements".

The Indian High Commission issued a statement noting that Trivedi conveyed greetings from PM Narendra Modi and the intent to work together with the government and the people of Bangladesh "in a positive, constructive and forward-looking manner".

In Kathmandu, Shah met Indian Ambassador and discussed bilateral relations, mutual interests, development partnership and areas of cooperation, according to the PMO.

On Monday, Shah also met Chinese ambassador Zhang Maoming separately, while US Embassy Charge d'Affaires Scott Urbom is expected to meet him on Tuesday.

Since becoming Prime Minister on March 27, Shah had avoided individual meetings with Kathmandu-based ambassadors. Instead, he held joint meetings with foreign envoys on April 9 and May 26, with the aim of maintaining equidistance from all foreign partners. Shah had also declined requests for meetings with several senior US officials visiting Nepal, including ambassador to India and special envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor.