FIVE MONTHS after being elected as the Prime Minister of Nepal, Balen Shah met Indian ambassador in Kathmandu Naveen Srivastava on Monday for the first one-on-one bilateral meeting and discussed strengthening Nepal-India relations, promoting bilateral cooperation and enhancing development partnership for the mutual benefit of two countries. This is a departure from Shah’s earlier position that he would meet only heads of State and heads of government, and not meet officials who are below that rank. After the meeting, Nepal Prime Minister’s Office posted on X, “Ambassador of India to Nepal Naveen Srivastava paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister Balendra Shah at Singhadurbar today.”