Kathmandu, April 6 — Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava paid a courtesy call on newly appointed Nepalese Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Ambassador Srivastava is reported to be the first foreign diplomat to meet Minister Khanal since the new government was formed at the end of March. The visit was described as an important high-level engagement following the change in Nepal’s administration.
According to the ministry, the two sides held detailed discussions on matters of mutual interest and on ways to deepen the long-standing relationship between Nepal and India. Srivastava conveyed greetings from India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, and both delegations discussed bilateral cooperation across several areas.
Key topics covered included connectivity, energy trade, and pending development projects. The ambassador reiterated India’s commitment to supporting Nepal’s development objectives. Officials from both countries attended the meeting, and the Nepalese Foreign Ministry later posted on social media that Srivastava had congratulated Khanal on assuming office and reviewed various aspects of bilateral cooperation.
The visit comes against a long history of India-Nepal development partnership that began in the early 1950s. Indian assistance for modern infrastructure in Nepal started with the construction of Gauchar Airport in Kathmandu (work began in 1951 and was completed in 1954), and the Indian Aid Mission in Nepal was established in 1954 to coordinate Indian-supported projects.
Over the past seven decades, cooperation has broadened beyond infrastructure to include health, education, power, archives and archaeology, trade, agriculture, cultural heritage preservation, and capacity building. Projects have generally been designed to reflect Nepal’s needs and priorities and are implemented across the country.
