Kathmandu, Aug. 8 -- Prime Minister Balendra Shah is set to begin one-on-one meetings with Kathmandu-based key diplomatic stakeholders on Monday, breaking his self-imposed rule of avoiding individual engagements with foreign ambassadors.

Shah will meet Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava and Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming separately on Monday, before holding a similar meeting with the US Embassy's Charge d'Affaires Scott Urbom on Tuesday. Even as Shah had planned to meet them two weeks back the plan was deferred following the communal violence in Sunsari and other districts.

The decision to meet the ambassadors of Nepal's two immediate neighbours on the same day appears intended to underscore their equal importance to Nepal, although ...