Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s proposed visit to Kathmandu has been postponed amid rising diplomatic unease between India and Nepal over the disputed Lipulekh tri-junction and the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra route through the area.
According to reports from Nepal-based media outlet The kathmandu Post, Misri was expected to arrive in Kathmandu on May 11 for a two-day visit aimed at engaging with Nepal’s new government and discussing the future course of bilateral relations. However, the visit was deferred after the Indian side informed Nepal that the foreign secretary had “other commitments.”
The report, citing senior Nepali government officials, said two major developments may have contributed to the postponement. The first was Nepal Prime Minister Balen Shah reportedly declining repeated requests for a meeting with the Indian foreign secretary. The second was the renewed diplomatic friction over the Lipulekh Pass, where Nepal has objected to India and China resuming the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through what Kathmandu considers disputed territory.
India recently rejected Nepal’s objections regarding the Mansarovar pilgrimage route. Responding to Kathmandu’s protest, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said Lipulekh had been a long-standing route for the pilgrimage since 1954 and described Nepal’s territorial claims as “neither justified nor based on historical facts and evidence.”
Nepal, however, maintains that the Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura regions fall within its territory and has repeatedly raised the issue since publishing a revised political map in 2020.
Despite the postponement, diplomatic preparations for the visit had reportedly been underway in both New Delhi and Kathmandu. Misri was also expected to deliver an invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Prime Minister Shah for an official visit to India.
Neither the Indian Ministry of External Affairs nor Nepal’s Foreign Ministry has officially announced new dates for the visit so far.