Prime Minister (PM) Balendra Shah is scheduled to hold separate meetings with ambassadors on Monday, in a notable shift from his earlier approach of avoiding one-on-one engagements with foreign ambassadors.
According to sources, Shah will meet Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava and Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming separately on Monday, followed by a meeting with US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Scott Urbom on Tuesday.
It should be noted that the meetings had originally been planned around two weeks ago but were postponed after communal violence broke out in Sunsari and other districts.
Holding talks with the Indian and Chinese ambassadors on the same day is being viewed as an attempt to reflect the equal importance of Nepal’s two neighbours, although the order of the meetings is also being interpreted as consistent with the government’s stated foreign policy priority of engaging India first and China second.
Srivastava is expected to meet the prime minister during the first half of Monday, while Zhang is scheduled for the second half of the day. The Foreign Ministry has informed the respective embassies of the appointments.
Officials said the meetings will be Shah’s first individual courtesy calls with Kathmandu-based ambassadors since assuming office on March 27. The discussions are expected to focus mainly on the current state of bilateral relations and any messages conveyed by the respective governments.
