Nepalese PM Oli likely to come on an official India visit in August

Ever since KP Sharma Oli took over as Prime Minister of Nepal for the fourth time on July 15, 2024, there has been a buzz of his official India visit.

“He is likely to come in August (possibly towards the end) as PM Modi is busy with his travel schedule until July end. Meanwhile, PM Oli is slated to visit Turkmenistan—to attend the Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LDC) from 5th to 8th August,” according to a source.

PM Oli had been waiting for an invite from India since he assumed power last year, but reportedly some of his statements about India didn’t go down well and led to the delay.

As a result PM Oli went on his first official visit to China in November.

Nepalese Foreign Minister Arzu Deuba Rana made a few visits to Delhi (some were personal) and had tried to pitch for an invite, say sources.

It may be recalled that PM Prime Oli called PM Modi after the Pahalgam terror attack and strongly condemned it calling it heinous.

The two leaders met in person in Bangkok earlier this year on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit.

India and Nepal share a 1,751 km long border (across 5 Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand). India-Nepal relations are defined by deep-rooted people-to-people links as well as commonalities in religion, language and culture.

High Level Exchanges:

In a reflection of India’s “Neighbourhood First” policy, there are frequent high-level visits and exchanges between India and Nepal. Since May 2014, there have been 17 exchanges at the level of Head of State/ Head of Government between India and Nepal.