India Envoy Naveen Srivastava Meets Nepal FM Shisir Khanal, Bids Farewell
India’s outgoing Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava met Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal in Kathmandu on Wednesday as he prepares to complete his nearly four year tenure, with their meeting coming at a crucial time for India-Nepal relations amid Nepal’s massive flood recovery effort.
Srivastava called on Khanal at Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Singhdurbar and thanked him for his continued support in strengthening the two countries’ multifaceted partnership.
“Honoured to call on Hon. Foreign Minister Mr Shisir Khanal for a farewell meeting. Conveyed appreciation for his continued support for strengthening multifaceted ties,” Srivastava said in a post on X.
The Indian envoy highlighted progress during his tenure in energy cooperation, infrastructure connectivity and people to people ties. Nepal’s Foreign Ministry said Khanal also acknowledged major milestones in energy, trade, infrastructure and people to people relations.
The meeting comes as Nepal continues to deal with the devastating Bhotekoshi River floods triggered by an ice rock avalanche near the Nepal Tibet border on August 26. The latest figures cited by Reuters put Nepal’s confirmed death toll at 1,386, with more than 5,130 people still missing.
Khanal thanked India for its solidarity and swift disaster relief assistance, including support for search, rescue and relief operations. The disaster has also severely damaged Nepal’s hydropower infrastructure, roads and bridges.
India has separately approved the export of up to 654 MW of electricity to Nepal for 18 hours a day until December 31, after the floods damaged more than a dozen hydropower plants and sharply reduced Nepal’s domestic generation capacity.
The energy decision has added a significant new dimension to the bilateral relationship. Nepal had increasingly relied on hydropower not only for domestic electricity but also as a source of export revenue before the disaster disrupted generation.
The next major India Nepal engagement is already scheduled. Nepal Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle is set to visit New Delhi for two days from Thursday for talks on post flood reconstruction and wider economic cooperation. It will be the first high level visit from Nepal to India since the August 26 disaster, with Kathmandu seeking support for rebuilding damaged infrastructure.
The reconstruction requirement is expected to run into billions of dollars, making Indian economic and infrastructure support an important part of Nepal’s recovery discussions.
Srivastava, meanwhile, expressed appreciation for the cooperation extended by the Nepal government during his tenure and said he hoped bilateral relations would continue to flourish.
Khanal congratulated him on completing his assignment and wished him success in his future endeavours, while expressing confidence that he would remain a good friend of Nepal.
Srivastava also paid a farewell call on Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai. Rai praised his contribution to strengthening Nepal India ties and highlighted his role in advancing cooperation in energy, cross border infrastructure and people to people relations.
Srivastava has served as India’s ambassador to Nepal since June 2022. His departure comes as both countries face an important phase in their relationship, with disaster recovery, electricity supplies, hydropower, connectivity and economic cooperation likely to remain key areas of engagement.