Balen Shah Breaks His Self Imposed Diplomatic Rule For India, China: Sources

Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra 'Balen' Shah is reportedly breaking his self-imposed rule of not holding one-on-one meetings with Kathmandu-based ambassadors to balance India and China ties. PM Shah is planning to meet the Indian and Chinese ambassadors separately this week.To underscore that Nepal holds New Delhi and Beijing on an equal pedestal, Shah is scheduled to meet Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava and Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming on the same day, The Kathmandu Post reported citing sources. While the exact dates have yet to be announced, a senior government source in Nepal also told NDTV that this was likely to be confirmed soon. The decision comes over a month after the Balen Shah government completed its first 100 days in office.Since he came to power after a Gen Z uprising, the Nepal PM has departed from long-standing diplomatic practices and refused to meet foreign envoys individually. He, instead, has twice held joint diplomatic meetings with Kathmandu-based ambassadors. The diplomatic tradition had been that every newly elected prime minister would meet foreign ambassadors individually at the prime minister's office or their official residence within days of assuming office.He just made one diplomatic exception when he met Asian Development Bank President Masato Kanda during his three-day visit to Nepal in early July. According to Kathmandu media reports, Shah has recently also started engaging regularly with the business community, including traders, contractors, industrialists, and exporters."The prime minister has started meeting various stakeholders over the past two weeks. We have now concluded that 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," an aide to the prime minister told The Kathmandu Post.Balen Shah took office as Nepal's prime minister on March 27. Since then, he has turned down meeting requests from even senior US diplomats visiting Nepal. He refused a meeting with the US Embassy in Kathmandu to meet US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Samir Paul Kapur and President Donald Trump's special envoy for South and Central Asia, Sergio Gor, among others.