New Delhi, June 6: India’s External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, met with Nepal’s Foreign Minister, Shishir Khanal, on Saturday. During their discussions, Jaishankar emphasized that the robust partnership between India and Nepal is built on strong interpersonal relationships, cross-border connectivity, and a shared cultural heritage.
In a post on the social media platform X, Jaishankar expressed his pleasure in meeting Khanal and his delegation. He highlighted that they discussed their special partnership in detail, covering areas such as development cooperation, engagement, energy—particularly hydro power development—education, health, capacity building, digital initiatives, culture, and sports. He reaffirmed India’s commitment to working with Nepal for the mutual progress, prosperity, and well-being of their people.
Jaishankar pointed out that both nations have opportunities to enhance collaboration in emerging fields like startups, artificial intelligence, information technology, and renewable energy.
In his opening remarks during the meeting in New Delhi, Jaishankar stated, “India and Nepal share a unique relationship founded on strong ties among our people, cross-border connections, and shared cultural and religious traditions. This relationship is grounded in mutual trust, goodwill, and shared benefits. Our interactions have consistently expanded across trade, commerce, investment, energy, development cooperation, education, disaster response, and culture.”
He further noted, “Today, we have the chance to advance this partnership into several other areas, including startups, AI, IT, renewable energy, and other new domains. We work together to maintain security along our long and open border.”
Emphasizing the longstanding unity between the two countries, Jaishankar mentioned that India has ensured uninterrupted fuel supplies to Nepal amid ongoing crises in the West Asian region.
He remarked that the recent visit of Rabi Lamichhane, the leader of Nepal’s ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), underscored the importance of their bilateral relations.
Jaishankar concluded by wishing success for the Nepalese government, noting the strong alignment between its objectives and India’s initiatives in the region. He stressed the clear opportunity to transform the direction of India-Nepal relations and fully realize their potential through strengthened cooperation.
“I want to send a strong message of collaboration and coordination today. We believe that there is a clear opportunity to fundamentally change the direction of India-Nepal relations and understand their full potential. I am confident that our discussions today will help us move towards this goal,” he stated.
In closing, Jaishankar reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to advancing mutual relations for the progress, prosperity, and well-being of both nations.
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