In first high-level visit after new government’s arrival, Foreign Secretary Misri to visit Nepal on November 4-5

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will pay a two-day visit to Kathmandu on November 4 and 5, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Monday (November 2, 2026). This will be the first visit by Mr. Misri to Nepal since Prime Minister Balendra Shah took charge in March this year following the election that was conducted under an interim government. A visit to India by Mr. Shah is understandably part of the agenda that will be discussed when Mr. Misri meets officials in Kathmandu.

“Foreign Secretary’s upcoming visit continues the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries and will help further enhance the comprehensive bilateral partnership,” said the Ministry in an announcement. The visit by Mr. Misri to Kathmandu will be keenly watched as it comes amid a slew of reforms that Nepal’s post-Gen-Z uprising government is in the process of rolling out.

Apart from Mr. Shah’s visit to India, Mr. Misri’s conversations in Kathmandu are likely to feature the appointment of a new Ambassador of Nepal to New Delhi. Nepali Embassy has been without an Ambassador for several months since the previous Ambassador, Shankar Prasad Sharma, returned home. Nepali diplomatic sources told The Hindu earlier that Kathmandu was waiting for the agrément (diplomatic approval) for new envoy Nischal Nath Pandey to take charge in the embassy here. India’s continued assistance to the disaster in Bhote Koshi river is also expected to be on the agenda.

Even as Mr. Misri’s visit was being announced by the Ministry, a welfare association of former Indian Army soldiers took out a protest in Kathmandu on Monday (November 2) demanding that Gurkha recruitment into the Indian Army be resumed. Recruitment of Gurkha soldiers remains suspended since the Agnipath scheme was introduced by the Government of India.

The Hindu had earlier reported that Mr. Misri was expected to visit Nepal in May, but the visit was postponed ostensibly because Mr. Shah had prioritised domestic challenges. The India visit by Mr. Shah, if it materialises, will be the first bilateral visit abroad by the leader who came into prominence during the September 2025 Gen-Z uprising that overthrew the government of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli. Mr. Misri had visited Kathmandu previously for two days in August 2025 and had met Mr. Oli.

In the past few months, India has hosted Nepal’s Foreign Minister Sisir Khanal, Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle, and Home Minister Sudan Gurung, who visited Delhi to participate in the first BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) meet held on October 13, 2026. India has also hosted the head of the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Rabi Lamichhane in the first week of June when he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr. Lamichhane paid a personal visit to India last week to pray at the pilgrimage centres in Kainchi Dham in Uttarakhand and the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati.

Mr. Lamichhane had described this visit as “personal and not political”. “There are no political meetings planned. Since this is a personal visit, I urge people not to read politics into it,” said Mr. Lamichhane before starting the visit.