Keshav Padmanabhan, New Delhi, Sept 5: Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli is unlikely to visit India this month, ThePrint has learnt. Oli has yet to make an official visit to India since reassuming power in July 2024.
Sources informed ThePrint that the visit is unlikely to occur on 15 September, as first reported by the media in Nepal. They pointed out that there exists an issue with the timing of the visit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Oli recently had a short pull aside meeting in Tianjin on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit earlier this week.
“Delighted to meet Nepal PM Mr. KP Oli in Tianjin. India’s relations with Nepal are deep-rooted and very special,” Modi said in a statement on the social media platform X Sunday.
Kathmandu, in recent weeks, has been raising strong objections to India and China working to restart trade through the Lipulekh border post, which has come to be seen as a further irritant in New Delhi. In 2020, Nepal passed a constitutional amendment redrawing its map to include Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as part of the Himalayan country. India has rejected its claims.
The Nepal PM had Saturday raised the issue of India and China’s trade through the Lipulekh pass during his bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, urging Beijing to recognise the area as a part of the Himalayan nation.
This follows an earlier statement on 20 August by the Foreign Ministry of Nepal urging India to not “undertake any activities such as road construction/expansion, border trade in the area.”
New Delhi rejected the Nepal statement, adding that “such claims are neither justified nor based on historical facts and evidence.”
That same day, India and China had arrived at an understanding to resume trade through the border posts at Lipulekh, Nathu La and Shipki La passes during a meeting between the two Special Representatives.
Trade through the border posts have remained closed since the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent tensions in ties after the 2020 military clashes in Galwan. However, New Delhi and Beijing have been focused on introducing confidence building measures in recent weeks to push forward the thaw in ties.
Earlier in August, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited Kathmandu, providing the country with medical and military equipment in a sign of continued engagement between the two neighbours. The lack of a visit by Oli till date is significant given the traditionally close bilateral ties between New Delhi and Kathmandu.
Oli has visited China twice since assuming office, including an official trip in December 2024 and the recent visit to Tianjin and Beijing from 30 August till 3 September to attend the SCO plus summit and to mark the 80th anniversary of victory of the Chinese people’s war of resistance against Japanese aggression.
Modi held a bilateral meeting with Oli in April on the margins of the BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok. The two leaders also met in 2024 on the margins of the United Nations Summit of the Future in New York City.
In March, Oli was under pressure due to pro-monarchy protests that spread across the country, calling for the return of ex-King Gyanendra Shah. At the time, media reports indicated that the Nepal PM believed that the protests were backed by India. However, during the meeting in Bangkok, the Indian Prime Minister assured his Nepalese counterpart that New Delhi is committed to supporting democracy in the Himalayan nation.
From: theprint
