Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s planned visit to Nepal has been postponed at the last moment. Misri was scheduled to arrive in Kathmandu on Monday for an official visit.
“The foreign secretary was preparing to land in Kathmandu on Monday. But the visit was unexpectedly postponed,” a source at the foreign ministry said.
According to foreign ministry officials, the Indian side informed Nepal’s foreign ministry about the postponement but did not provide any official reason.
“The Indian side informed us that the visit had been postponed. No official reason has been given for this,” a foreign ministry official said.
India had been preparing to send Foreign Secretary Misri to Kathmandu after Balendra Shah of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) became prime minister following the election held on March 5.
Misri was reportedly planning to visit Nepal to formally invite Prime Minister Shah for an official visit to India.
Sources say the visit did not materialize because of Prime Minister Shah’s policy of not meeting officials below the rank of foreign minister.
Earlier, the US Special Ambassador to South and Central Asia Sergio Gor could not meet Prime Minister Shah during his visit to Kathmandu.
After the RSP secured a sweeping victory in the elections, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had telephoned Prime Minister Balen to congratulate him. Following the formation of the government, Foreign Secretary Amrit Rai had invited Misri to visit Nepal. The invitation was extended with plans to strengthen bilateral ties and discuss various aspects of the multidimensional relationship between the two countries.
However, the visit was reportedly called off after it became clear that high-level meetings, including with the prime minister, would not be possible.
The postponement comes at a time when Nepal and India are presenting competing claims over the Lipulekh region.
Nepal recently objected after India and China reached an understanding to resume the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage route through Lipulekh. Nepal has maintained that Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura are Nepali territories and has objected to India’s plans regarding the pilgrimage route.
India, however, continues to claim Lipulekh as its territory. Recently, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Nepal’s unilateral claims over Lipulekh were inappropriate.
Diplomatic experts say the sudden postponement of the Indian foreign secretary’s Kathmandu visit amid the ongoing Lipulekh dispute could indicate growing friction between the two countries. They suspect the border dispute may have contributed to the postponement.
However, Nepal’s foreign ministry has denied any link between the cancellation of Misri’s visit and the border dispute. “Nepal and India share extremely close relations. One issue cannot affect other aspects of bilateral ties,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lok Bahadur Paudel Chhetri said at a press conference few days ago.
