Kathmandu, July 23, 2026 (Doon Horizon)
Nepal Prime Minister Balen Shah has officially scrapped the strict diplomatic protocol he enforced upon taking office. He will hold direct, separate bilateral meetings with the ambassadors of India and China. Diplomatic sources in Kathmandu confirmed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is actively finalizing the schedules for these high-stakes meetings later this week.
The shift reverses a rigid policy. Shah assumed office on March 27 and immediately banned one-on-one sessions with foreign envoys. He restricted diplomatic access entirely to collective gatherings. The Prime Minister summoned Kathmandu-based diplomats for joint briefings twice—once in April and again in May—forcing ambassadors from powerful nations to sit in a single room rather than walking through the private doors of his official residence.
That strict isolation applied to top-tier dignitaries. Shah point-blank refused private audiences with senior United States diplomats and shut down requests to hold individual talks with Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. His domestic supporters aggressively marketed the strategy at the time as “transparent and self-respecting diplomacy”.
Now the stance has cracked. The government crossed its 100-day mark and the Prime Minister’s absolute refusal to engage key power players abruptly softened. He spent the last two weeks hosting direct, private meetings with internal stakeholders—domestic trader bodies, powerful contractors, and industrial elites.
Prime Minister’s Office officials defend the sudden policy reversal. They state that prioritizing direct talks with immediate neighbors India and China remains a natural, absolute necessity driven by Nepal’s core foreign policy priorities.
Neutrality dictates the new schedule. Shah will meet Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava and Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming on the exact same day. The simultaneous scheduling acts as a deliberate shield to project equal diplomatic footing and avoid offending either neighbor. Ministry of Foreign Affairs protocol officers are locking down the exact hours.
