KATHMANDU – Indian Secretary of External Affairs Harsh Vardhan Shringla will arrive in Nepal today for his two-day official visit. He will land in the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu at 10 am.
This is his first visit to Nepal after being appointed as India’s Foreign Secretary. The Indian Foreign Secretary is visiting Nepal at the cordial invitation of Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal.
Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that the visit is in continuation of the regular exchange of high level visits between the two neighbouring countries.
Nepal has accorded the ongoing border disputes with India as a top priority in the discussions with the visiting Indian Foreign Secretary. The report of the Eminent Personnel Group (EPG), cross border transmission line, economic cooperation and energy are on the agenda for bilateral discussions.
Indian Foreign Secretary Shringla will hold a bilateral meeting with his Nepali counterpart Paudyal today. Following secretary-level talks, he is scheduled to call on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali.
Foreign Secretary Shringla will also hand over Covid-19 related support to the Government of Nepal.
He will also pay a courtesy call to President Bidya Devi Bhandari. The Foreign Secretary of India is scheduled to return to New Delhi at 1 pm tomorrow.
The visit of the Indian Foreign Secretary comes amid border disputes that have worsened relations between the two countries.
The Nepali side is expected to raise the border issue during the bilateral talks to be held at the Foreign Secretary level.
Tensions between the two countries had escalated after Indian Defence Minister inaugurated the road between Dharchula to Lipulekh, a Nepali territory, through a video conference on May 8.
In response to Indian claims on Nepali territories, Nepal published its own new map including Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura on May 20. The parliament unanimously approved the amendment of the constitution to update the new map in the emblem of the country.
Since then, Nepal’s southern neighbor had been turning down all diplomatic and political requests for dialogues since it released its new and revised map.
