Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who is on a two-day official visit to Nepal, paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Balendra Shah on Thursday.
According to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, the two discussed ways to further strengthen and expand the historic bilateral relations between Nepal and India.
The discussions covered various aspects of mutual interests, including connectivity, trade and cultural ties between the two countries, and were positive, the secretariat said.
Misri’s visit comes as Nepal and India seek to revive political and diplomatic engagement following a slowdown in high-level exchanges between the two neighbours in recent months.
Both countries had begun preparations for high-level political engagements ahead of Misri’s visit. India’s new ambassador Sudhakar Dalela arrived in Kathmandu to assume his office on Tuesday. Misri arrived in Kathmandu a day later.
A key objective of Misri’s visit was to prepare for Prime Minister Shah’s proposed visit to India and build an understanding with the Nepali side on its possible agenda.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already invited Shah to visit India. Although the visit is likely to take place from November 22 to 24, neither government has officially announced the dates.
The proposed visit would be Shah’s first bilateral foreign trip since assuming office in the last week of March. It is also being viewed as an opportunity to usher in a new phase of political dialogue between Nepal and India.
Misri’s visit to Nepal had been scheduled earlier as well. However, it was postponed amid diplomatic unease after a meeting with the prime minister could not be arranged and Nepal objected to India’s move to facilitate the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage route through Lipulekh.
Against this backdrop, the latest visit is being seen as an opportunity for the two sides to resume high-level engagement that had remained stalled.
