Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal will visit China from June 14-17 to hold talks with his counterpart Wang Yi, aiming to strengthen bilateral relations. The trip follows his recent debut foreign visit to India to meet with S Jaishankar.
Nepal FM to Visit China
Nepal Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal will embark on an official visit to China this Sunday, the country’s foreign affairs ministry announced.
As per a release from the ministry, Khanal will be “paying an official visit to the People’s Republic of China from 14 to 17 June 2026” at the invitation of Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China. Khanal will hold bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing and “discuss matters of mutual interest for further strengthening Nepal-China relations and advancing deeper cooperation,” Nepal’s Foreign Ministry statement read. Khanal will also meet with high-level dignitaries of China, it said.
Recap of Recent Visit to India
Nepal’s Foreign Minister Khanal had, since assuming charge of the ministry at the end of March, made his debut foreign visit to India last week. He was on a visit to Delhi from June 5 at the invitation of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
In the bilateral meeting, the Nepali Foreign Minister, along with his Indian counterpart, reviewed the full spectrum of India-Nepal bilateral relations, covering development cooperation, connectivity, trade and transit, energy, and people-to-people ties. They also exchanged views on regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest. The ministers expressed satisfaction with the progress achieved in bilateral cooperation across diverse sectors and welcomed recent initiatives to enhance cooperation in areas of innovation and startups, digital and financial technology, and training and capacity building. They agreed to intensify efforts towards further enhancing the multifaceted India-Nepal partnership and taking it to new heights.
Key Agreements and Joint Initiatives
Both ministers welcomed the completion of internal processes for the entry into force of the India-Nepal Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement in Criminal Matters (MLAA). This agreement will benefit the people of India and Nepal by providing an institutional legal framework to enhance the effectiveness of investigations, prosecutions, and judicial proceedings relating to cross-border crimes.
Following the discussions, Jaishankar handed over 72 health facilities and 12 cultural heritage projects to Nepal, completed under India’s post-2015 Earthquake Reconstruction Assistance.
The ministers jointly launched the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) linkage between the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of India and the National Payments Interface (NPI) of Nepal for facilitating cross-border personal remittances between India and Nepal.
The ministers witnessed the signing of the MoU between Digital India Bhashini and Kathmandu University for co-creating the National Digital Infrastructure for the “Voice First” Language Translation platform.
The discussions were held in a warm, friendly, and constructive atmosphere, reflecting the unique and special ties between the two countries.
During the visit, Khanal also met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
Nepal is a priority partner of India under its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, and the visit reinforced the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two close and friendly neighbours. It provided an opportunity to exchange views on enhancing the bilateral partnership to fulfil the aspirations of the people of both countries and has imparted fresh vigour to these efforts. (ANI)
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