US President Donald Trump's special envoy for South and Central Asia, Sergio Gore, arrived in Kathmandu on Thursday evening. Gore, who is serving as the US ambassador to India, has also served as a close aide to Trump in the past. 

Gore arrived in Kathmandu within 10 days of US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Samir Paul Kapur returning from a visit to Nepal. According to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lok Bahadur Poudel Chhetri, Gore will meet Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle and Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal on Friday.

According to the tour schedule, Gore is scheduled to visit the Mount Everest region along with Acting US Ambassador to Nepal Scott Arbum, weather permitting. Gore will return to New Delhi on Saturday midnight.

According to the tour schedule, Gore is scheduled to visit the Everest region along with Acting US Ambassador to Nepal Scott Arbum, if the weather permits. Gore will return to New Delhi at midnight on Saturday. As Gore is President Trump's special envoy, the US side wants Gore to meet Prime Minister Balendra Shah. However, according to officials from the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister Shah has not yet decided to meet Gore. In the past, most foreign diplomats visiting Nepal have met with top political leaders, including the Prime Minister. 

Prime Minister Shah did not meet Assistant Foreign Minister Kapoor, who arrived in Nepal on a three-day visit on April 20. “There have been many requests from Gore to meet the Prime Minister. However, the meeting has not been confirmed yet,” Prime Minister Shah’s press and research expert Deepa Dahal told The Kathmandu Post. She said that Prime Minister Shah is busy with work related to good governance. She said that Gore’s meeting with the Foreign Minister and Foreign Secretary has been confirmed.

Earlier, Gore was an aide to President Trump in the White House and the director of the White House Presidential Personal Office (PPO). The team led by him appointed a large number of employees in the federal government. Gore has already held high-level meetings with heads of state and government of South Asian countries. That is why the US side is insisting on meeting Prime Minister Shah.

However, Prime Minister Shah wants to establish a standard of meeting only with ministers or higher officials from foreign countries. Sources say that Prime Minister Shah is adamant that he will not meet with ambassadors and junior officials of any country. Shah had a group meeting with the ambassadors on April 8.

As President Trump's special envoy, Gore has met with former Chief Advisor to the Interim Cabinet of Bangladesh, Mohammad Yunus, several times. He visited Bhutan in the second week of March and met with King Jigme Khesar Namgyel and Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay. In the third week of March, he reached Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

He met with Sri Lankan President Anurag Kumar Dissanayake and Foreign Minister Abdullah Khalilzad and Defense Minister Mohammad Ghassan Maumoon in Male. However, Maldives President Mohamed Mujju postponed the meeting with Gore, citing the ongoing war between the US, Israel and Iran in West Asia.

Although Gore is in Kathmandu for the first time, he has already spoken to the leadership of the National Independent Party (NISP). On April 25, he congratulated NISP President Ravi Lamichhane on his election victory over the phone.

The US Embassy in Kathmandu posted on ‘X’ on April 25 that it is eager to work with the Nepali government to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries and deepen bilateral relations.

The US Embassy in Kathmandu posted on ‘X’ on April 25, stating that it is eager to work with the Nepali government to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries and deepen bilateral relations. Foreign affairs experts have expressed mixed views on whether Prime Minister Shah should meet Gore or not. Former Ambassador Dinesh Bhattarai says that since Gore is currently visiting as an envoy of the US President, the Prime Minister should meet him if he requests. ‘Through Gore, Nepal can get an opportunity to present its foreign policy priorities and objectives,’ he said.  

However, former Nepali Ambassador to the US Arjun Karki says that while Gore’s visit has given some momentum to Nepal-US relations, the issue of not meeting the Prime Minister will not have a major impact.

‘The Prime Minister seems to be trying to maintain diplomatic dignity. On the other hand, whether the meeting was requested or not is important. Every country may have its own diplomatic style. So this does not affect our dialogue with the US,’ he said.

Karki argues that it would be unnatural if Prime Minister Shah refused to meet with an official of equal rank. "There is a similar practice in America," said Karki, who is currently a UML MP. "If someone is important or has come with an important message, there is also a custom for the President to meet them, even against the order of etiquette."