Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra “Balen” Shah is planning separate meetings with the Indian and Chinese ambassadors in Kathmandu this week, breaking from his self-imposed rule of not holding one-on-one meetings with foreign envoys, according to NDTV. The Balen Shah India China meetings are scheduled to take place on the same day, an approach reportedly intended to demonstrate that Nepal treats New Delhi and Beijing with equal diplomatic importance, The Kathmandu Post reported, citing sources. Exact dates have not yet been announced, though a senior Nepal government source told NDTV that confirmation was expected soon.
Shah is set to meet Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava and Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming individually, according to the report. The decision comes about a month after Shah’s government completed its first 100 days in office. Shah took office as Nepal’s prime minister on March 27, following a Gen Z-led uprising, and has since departed from long-standing diplomatic conventions.
Traditionally, newly elected Nepali prime ministers meet foreign ambassadors individually at the prime minister’s office or their official residence within days of taking office, according to NDTV. Shah, however, refused individual meetings with envoys and instead held two joint diplomatic meetings with Kathmandu-based ambassadors since assuming power. He made one exception, meeting Asian Development Bank President Masato Kanda during Kanda’s three-day visit to Nepal in early July.
An aide to the prime minister told The Kathmandu Post that Shah had begun meeting various stakeholders over the past two weeks, and that officials concluded he should also engage with foreign ambassadors and diplomats. “It is only natural to begin with the ambassadors of our two neighbours, India and China, given Nepal’s foreign policy priorities,” the aide said. According to Kathmandu media reports cited by NDTV, Shah has also recently started engaging regularly with the business community, including traders, contractors, industrialists and exporters.
Since taking office, Shah has turned down meeting requests from several senior US diplomats visiting Nepal, according to NDTV. He declined a meeting with the US Embassy in Kathmandu involving US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Samir Paul Kapur, as well as President Donald Trump’s special envoy for South and Central Asia, Sergio Gor, among others.
Nepal’s diplomatic balancing between India and China has long been a key element of its foreign policy, given the country’s geographic position between the two regional powers. Kathmandu maintains close economic, cultural and people-to-people ties with India, while China remains an important partner in infrastructure, trade and investment. Against this backdrop, Shah’s decision to meet the ambassadors of both countries on the same day could be viewed as an effort to maintain diplomatic balance and avoid perceptions of favouring one neighbour over the other. The planned meetings may also provide an opportunity for Nepal to discuss broader regional cooperation and strengthen communication with both governments.
The planned Balen Shah India China meetings come amid continued diplomatic engagement between Nepal and its two largest neighbours, both of which maintain significant strategic and economic interests in the region. No further details on the agenda for the meetings have been disclosed, and it remains unclear whether specific bilateral issues will be discussed. Additional information on Nepal’s government activities and official statements is available through the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers’ official website.
The development is part of a broader pattern of national leadership changes and diplomatic recalibration seen across South Asia and beyond in recent months. StudioX News has separately reported on other recent political developments internationally, including the Labor National Conference 2026 in Adelaide. The exact dates and outcomes of the meetings have not yet been announced.
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