New Delhi has informed Nepal that the visit has been postponed due to Mishri's other commitments. However, Delhi has not revealed the actual reason for the postponement.
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Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Mishri's visit has been postponed. According to a senior government source, the two-day visit scheduled to begin on May 11 has been postponed for now.
With the formation of a new government in Nepal under the leadership of Balendra Shah, Delhi had decided to send Foreign Secretary Mishri to Kathmandu. Although it was said that Mishri's visit was to be in line with the priorities of the new government and give a new dimension to bilateral relations, it has been postponed. New Delhi has informed Nepal that the visit has been postponed due to Mishri's other commitments. However, Delhi has not revealed the real reason for the postponement of the visit.
The Ministry of External Affairs has said that there may be two main reasons behind the postponement of the visit. A foreign ministry official said that Indian Foreign Secretary Mishri wanted to meet Prime Minister Balendra Shah during the visit, but Prime Minister Shah was reluctant. He believes that Mishri's visit may have been postponed because Prime Minister Shah refused to arrange a meeting despite repeated requests from the Indian side. Similarly, he estimates that Mishri does not want to come to Kathmandu amid the recent border dispute between Nepal and India over Lipulekh.
India has started preparations for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra via Nepali territory Lipulekh. India and China have agreed to resume the Mansarovar Yatra, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, from June to August.
Nepal has not been informed about this. The new government that came to power after the February 21 election has reiterated its old stance through a 'diplomatic note' opposing the decision.
This is not the first time that Nepal has expressed dissatisfaction with both neighbors over the border issue. Since 2015 alone, Nepal has sent diplomatic notes to India and China four times over the unilateral use of its land. The Nepali side has also been raising this issue in high-level political meetings. However, both India and China have been ignoring Nepal's concerns.
In the last week of April, during a meeting between Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal and his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar in Mauritius, India had informed that it wanted to send a foreign secretary to Kathmandu. India then proposed the dates of May 11 and 12 for the visit. Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai then sent a formal invitation.
Mishri himself was also expected to extend a formal invitation to Prime Minister Shah to visit India. Foreign Minister Khanal also informed that Prime Minister Shah had accepted the invitation sent by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Although there was no announcement from either side about the visit, it was intensified in New Delhi and Kathmandu.
Prime Minister Shah has been refusing to meet the foreign minister or any official or leader below the prime minister. Earlier, he had not met US President Donald Trump's special envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gore and Assistant Foreign Minister Kapoor.
According to officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shah has ignored requests from Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle and Foreign Minister Khanal to maintain cordial relations with countries that have been helping and supporting Nepal for decades, including by meeting senior officials from India, China, and the United States.
