India, June 24 -- Nepal's foreign minister Shishir Khanal concluded his four-day-long trip to China on June 17. This was the highest-level engagement between Nepal and China since a new government led by Prime Minister (PM) Balendra Shah, popularly known as Balen, took office in February 2026. His visit to Nepal's northern neighbour comes in the backdrop of two high-level visits from Kathmandu to Delhi: the first by ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party chairman Rabi Lamichhane and the second by Khanal.

Interestingly, the first hundred days of the government have been focused on internal affairs, especially towards reforming and bringing transparency to institutions, including the judiciary, education, finance, bureaucracy, and the foreign aff...