Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri is set to visit Kathmandu on a two-day official trip.
While the Indian side has proposed May 11 for Misri’s visit, Nepal is expected to confirm the schedule on Monday, according to a senior foreign ministry official.
Misri will visit Nepal at the invitation of Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai. The visit will focus on reviewing progress in existing bilateral mechanisms, advancing stalled projects, and enhancing cooperation in areas such as energy, physical infrastructure, and digital connectivity.
Officials say the visit will place special emphasis on translating recent bilateral engagements into concrete implementation. During the trip, Misri is also expected to hand over a formal invitation from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his Nepali counterpart. If granted a courtesy meeting with Prime Minister Balendra Shah, he will also convey India’s position and remind him of Modi’s invitation.
The visit is seen as the first step in preparations for a possible visit to India by Prime Minister Shah.
Meetings of stalled bilateral mechanisms are expected to resume following Misri’s visit. This would be followed by a visit to Nepal by India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, according to foreign ministry sources.
The series of high-level exchanges is expected to help build political trust between Kathmandu and New Delhi and pave the way for a visit by Prime Minister Shah. Officials say that this time the engagements will be pursued in a more procedural and institutional manner.
In recent years, official visits have faced criticism for being limited to formalities and lacking tangible outcomes. Prime Minister Shah has repeatedly stressed that he will avoid unproductive foreign trips and focus on delivering results at home. Shah has even stated that he would not hold meetings below the level of the foreign minister.
Both sides now appear to be prioritizing result-oriented cooperation. Areas like energy trade, border infrastructure, water resource management, and trade facilitation are expected to gain momentum.
Misri earlier visited Nepal on August 17–18, 2025, during which he paid courtesy calls on President Ramchandra Paudel, then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, and then Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba. During the visit, he had also handed over a formal invitation from Prime Minister Modi to Oli for a visit to India.
At the time, the two foreign secretaries had held detailed discussions on physical and energy connectivity, digital cooperation, and development partnership, aimed at making a Nepali prime ministerial visit to India more productive.
Meanwhile, Sergio Gor, the United States Ambassador to India with additional responsibility for South and Central Asia, is also preparing to visit Nepal soon. Gor is expected to meet Prime Minister Shah. If Gor holds a courtesy meeting with Prime Minister Shah, Misri will also meet the prime minister, sources say.
Gor would have already returned to India before Misri’s arrival in Kathmandu.
