Nepal Prime Minister Balendra “Balen” Shah has made his first high-level bilateral diplomatic engagement by meeting Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava in Kathmandu, signalling a renewed focus on Nepal’s relationship with India.
The meeting, on Monday, August 10, is a marked change in Shah’s diplomatic approach after he had long avoided speaking to foreign envoys one-on-one. There is speculation that it was his first meeting with a foreign ambassador since he took office.
Shah and Srivastava discussed bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest. Shah was also reported to have stressed the importance of deepening Nepal’s “historic relationship” with India and working together on issues of mutual interest.
The development has attracted significant attention as Nepal is also in a delicate geopolitical position between India and China. Kathmandu has quite a lot of economic, cultural and strategic relations with both neighbours, so its diplomacy is a sensitive one in the region.
Shah’s decision to start his new round of bilateral relations with the Indian envoy has been seen by some as an indication that India has received early diplomatic priority under his government. But it would be premature to characterize the move as Nepal choosing India over China in a definitive strategic sense.
In fact, Shah was also scheduled to meet with Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming as part of the same diplomatic outreach. The Indian and Chinese envoys were scheduled separately, and the US Embassy chargé d’affaires was to meet together.
But the sequence makes the meeting with Srivastava significant. It comes after Shah's previous aversion to meeting with foreign diplomats in person, so his meeting with representatives of India and China is a very significant change of style.
The outreach in India also has the potential to strengthen cooperation with Nepal on connectivity, trade, energy, border management and other areas of bilateral collaboration. India and Nepal have long-standing historical, cultural and people-to-people ties and economic ties too.
Nepal’s relations with India and China remain very strategic. Nepal has a long history of pursuing a foreign policy to ensure that its national interests are protected and to make use of economic opportunities supplied by both countries.
Earlier analysis of Shah's government’s foreign policy approach had highlighted the idea of positioning Nepal as a “bridge” between India and China rather than merely a buffer between the two powers.
The latest meeting might thus mark the beginning of a more active diplomatic phase for the Balen Shah government.
The timing is also important, of course. With Shah now in touch directly with foreign representatives, Kathmandu is moving towards a more conventional diplomatic strategy after a period marked by very few one-on-one interactions.
India’s ambassador Naveen Srivastava described his interaction with Shah as an engaging exchange on the India-Nepal partnership.
Though the meeting is seen as a positive signal for India-Nepal ties, the diplomatic picture will become clear as Shah deals with China and other major partners.
For now, the main takeaway is that Balen Shah has opened his high-level bilateral diplomatic outreach with a meeting with India's envoy in Kathmandu, putting India prominently in the early phase of his government's renewed engagement with major foreign partners.
The development will be closely watched by New Delhi and Beijing as Nepal’s new government shapes its approach to the two Asian powers.
