Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is set to visit Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, on April 2 to participate in the sixth summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) member states.
Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba is also scheduled to accompany the prime minister to Thailand.
The summit is scheduled to take place in Thailand on April 2 and 3.
Although the BIMSTEC summit was initially planned to be held two months ago, it was postponed due to political upheavals in Thailand.
Prime Minister Oli and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are scheduled to hold a meeting during the summit.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has initiated the process for a sideline meeting between the two prime ministers, the meeting will probably take place," a highly-placed source at the Foreign Ministry told Setopati.
Prime Minister Oli and Indian Prime Minister Modi earlier met on September 23 last year in New York, USA.
The two leaders, who were attending the United Nations General Assembly, held talks for about 30 minutes at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel, where Modi was staying.
Both prime ministers said in posts on the social media platform X that the meeting, attended by Nepali and Indian foreign ministers, foreign secretaries, and high-ranking government officials, was cordial.
According to their social media posts, the two prime ministers discussed topics such as energy, technology, and trade at the time. Issuing a statement, India’s Ministry of External Affairs also stated that the two prime ministers held discussions on four different topics.
Foreign Minister Rana said after the meeting that the talks were cordial and that Indian Prime Minister Modi would visit Nepal soon. However, upon returning to Nepal, Prime Minister Oli went on a visit to China. During that visit, Nepal and China signed the Framework for Belt and Road Cooperation.
After his return from China, efforts were made to arrange a visit by Prime Minister Oli to India, but they were unsuccessful. When he visited Jhapa last December, Prime Minister Oli said that he would soon visit India. "They might not believe it, but I will visit India soon," he said at the time.
Foreign Minister Rana then traveled to Delhi on December 21, saying she would also discuss Prime Minister Oli’s potential visit, but those efforts also did not succeed. This time, however, the Foreign Ministry has arranged a meeting between the two prime ministers during the BIMSTEC summit.
Although Nepal’s participation in the BIMSTEC summit is confirmed, the agenda to be presented by Nepal has not been finalized yet. A meeting held on Sunday, chaired by Foreign Minister Rana and attended by officials of eight stakeholder ministries, decided to finalize the agenda within a week.
The BIMSTEC summit will hold discussions on industry, productivity, IT, commerce, connectivity, agriculture, energy, and other topics. BIMSTEC includes Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand as member states.
