KATHMANDU: Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has said that Nepal is seeking to recalibrate its bilateral relations with India during his three-day official visit to New Delhi.

Representing Prime Minister Balen Shah’s youth-backed administration, Khanal told NDTV that his party, the Rastriya Swatantra Party, has entered government without historical ideological constraints that have previously influenced Nepal–India relations.

Khanal said Nepal had earlier missed economic opportunities due to unstable domestic coalitions shaping geopolitical decisions, while India’s economy expanded during the same period.

Khanal held high-level discussions with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, focusing on a five-pillar agenda covering energy, connectivity, digital integration, technology, and education. He is also about to meet Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

According to Khanal, the proposed framework includes developing a hydropower partnership to export Nepali electricity to Bangladesh through Indian transmission networks, upgrading cross-border road and rail connectivity, and expanding air corridors for Nepal’s newly built airports.

He also said the talks included plans for a digital payment system linked to Unified Payments Interface (UPI), joint development of AI language models between universities, and proposals to establish an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) or All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) campus in Nepal.

Khanal added that Prime Minister Balen Shah is currently focusing on domestic budget implementation before undertaking an official state visit.