Senior U.S. Diplomat Sameer Paul Kapoor to Visit Kathmandu for the First Time Since Balen Shah Government Formation

Sameer Paul Kapoor, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, is preparing to visit Kathmandu next Monday. Kapoor plans to hold high-level meetings in Kathmandu and meet with several government ministers. His visit will last three days, and he is scheduled to return on Wednesday via Turkish Airlines.

Of Indian heritage, Kapoor is visiting Kathmandu with the aim of expanding relations with the new government led by Balen Shah. In October last year, U.S. President Donald Trump appointed Kapoor as Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, succeeding Donald Lu in this role.

According to a diplomat from the Nepali Embassy in Washington D.C. and an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reported by The Kathmandu Post, Kapoor’s visit to Kathmandu will span three days. He will fly from Washington to Kathmandu via Turkish Airlines and return on the same flight on Wednesday. However, a formal announcement of this visit has yet to be made. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not provided any official information as of the time this report was prepared. If Kapoor arrives in Kathmandu on Monday, he will be the most senior foreign diplomat to visit since the formation of the Balen Shah-led government.