Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava (left) with Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah in Kathmandu on Monday. (PTI)FIVE MONTHS after being elected as the Prime Minister of Nepal, Balen Shah met Indian ambassador in Kathmandu Naveen Srivastava on Monday for the first one-on-one bilateral meeting and discussed strengthening Nepal-India relations, promoting bilateral cooperation and enhancing development partnership for the mutual benefit of two countries.This is a departure from Shah’s earlier position that he would meet only heads of State and heads of government, and not officials below that rank.After the meeting, Nepal Prime Minister’s Office posted on X, “Ambassador of India to Nepal Naveen Srivastava paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister Balendra Shah at Singhadurbar today.”“Discussions were focused on further strengthening Nepal-India relations, promoting bilateral cooperation and enhancing development partnership for the mutual benefit of two countries,” Nepal PMO said. Indian envoy Srivastava said, “Honoured to call on Rt. Hon. Prime Minister of Nepal this morning. Conveyed warm greetings from Prime Minister Modi ji. Had an engaging & productive exchange of views on further deepening robust, multi-faceted India-Nepal partnership”.Srivastava had met the Nepalese Prime Minister in a group call-on by ambassadors of several countries, just after Shah was sworn-in as the new PM in March this year.In May, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was expected to visit Kathmandu .However, the visit was later deferred as Shah had conveyed that he will not undertake any foreign visits in the near future — at least for the first 100 days of his term. Shah had also not met visiting US ambassador Sergio Gor, who is also US special envoy on South and Central Asia.Story continues below this adThe statements by the Shah government on Lipulekh, objecting to India and China planning to conduct the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the pass, have posed challenges to the ties. India had said that such claims are “neither justified nor based on historical facts and evidence”, and it remains open to “constructive interaction with Nepal”.However, they have engaged on issues including water resources, power transmission and developmental projects.Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 27 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting and writing explainers and analysis on foreign affairs for about 19 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He won the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award, 2023, for the second time for his reporting of the Oct 7 attacks on Israel and the war in Gaza. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More Tags:Nepal