Nepalese Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal arrives in Delhi, meets NSA Doval

Nepali Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal receives a warm welcome as he arrives in New Delhi on Friday for his official visit. Photo: @MEAIndia/X via ANI

In a sign of Kathmandu’s deepening security dialogue with India, Nepali Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal met National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Friday (June 5, 2026).

Mr Khanal is the first minister from Prime Minister Balen Shah’s cabinet to visit India at an official level since the new Nepalese government was elected in March to replace the caretaker administration that took over after the Gen-Z uprising in September 2025 against former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and his government.

Extensive agenda

“We have a vast agenda with Nepal, from development cooperation to people-to-people ties to trade and investment. All these ties will be discussed when the two foreign ministers meet. But on our part, we want to further strengthen this multilateral partnership that we have with Nepal,” External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said at Mr Khanal’s official briefing.

Earlier, Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Mr Khanal’s visit to India between June 5 and 7 will strengthen cooperation “in key areas including trade, investment, connectivity, energy and people-to-people relations”. Mr Khanal met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Mauritius between April 10 and 12 on the sidelines of the Indian Ocean Conference.

After meeting Mr. Doval, the visiting foreign minister hosted a round table discussion organized by the India Foundation on Friday evening.

Focused on border disputes

Before the visit, Mr. Khanal met veteran Nepalese diplomat Bhek Bahadur Thapa, who served as the coordinator of the Nepal-India Eminent Persons Group (EPG). Mr. Thapa also handed over the key to a box containing an EPG report prepared a few years ago that was not submitted to the political leadership of Nepal and India. The EPG was created after the 2015-2016 blockade as a mechanism to discuss a wide range of issues, including border disputes.

The Kalapani-Lipulek-Limpiyadhura dispute was raised in the Nepali Parliament last week when the Prime Minister of Nepal mentioned it when he said that both India and Nepal are occupying each other’s territory. While Mr Shah’s critics in Kathmandu objected to his admission that Nepal also had Indian territory, his claim that the UK and China were parties to this border dispute also drew a rebuttal from the MEA.

Reviving the dialogue

The last Nepali foreign minister to visit India was Arzu Rana Deuba, who visited Delhi in August 2024 and then again in December of the same year to attend a think tank event. The fall of Oli’s government suspended high-level diplomatic talks while Nepal followed an interim arrangement.

The Hindu had earlier reported that attempts were made to resume diplomatic dialogue in the second week of May when Foreign Minister Vikram Misri was expected to visit Kathmandu. However, that visit did not take place due to Mr Shah’s new protocol, which favors meetings with his political counterparts while avoiding meetings with visiting diplomats in Kathmandu. He also announced that he would not visit foreign destinations during the first year of his administration.

Earlier this week, Rabi Lamichhane, chairman of Nepal’s ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), also visited India and was hosted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Mr. Lamichhane met Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Doval. During his stay, he also visited the temple of Lord Ram in Ayodhya.

Published – 05 Jun 2026 22:54 IST