'Even Greater Heights': Modi, Jaishankar Congratulate Nepal's New PM and Foreign Minister
New Delhi: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today (March 27) congratulated Balendra Shah on being sworn in as Nepal's prime minister, saying he looked forward to taking India-Nepal ties to "greater heights". External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar separately tweeted wishes to Shisir Khanal, who has taken charge as Nepal's foreign minister.
"Warm congratulations to Mr. Balendra Shah on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of Nepal. Your appointment reflects the trust reposed in your leadership by the people of Nepal. I look forward to working closely with you to take India-Nepal friendship and cooperation to even greater heights for the mutual benefit of our two peoples," Modi wrote on X.
नेपालको प्रधानमन्त्रीको रूपमा शपथ ग्रहण गर्नुभएकोमा श्री बालेन्द्र शाहज्यूलाई हार्दिक बधाई ।
यहाँको यस नियुक्तिले नेपाली जनताले यहाँको नेतृत्वप्रति राखेको विश्वासलाई प्रतिबिम्बित गर्दछ। हाम्रा दुई देशका जनताको आपसी हितका लागि भारत-नेपाल मित्रता र सहकार्यलाई अझ उचाइमा पुर्याउन म…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 27, 2026
Jaishankar wrote that he looked forward to working with Khanal to "further strengthen our traditional partnership".
Warm wishes to Shisir Khanal on taking over as the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal. @shisir
Look forward to working closely with him to further strengthen our traditional partnership. @MofaNepal
🇮🇳🇳🇵
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 27, 2026
Shah, 35, was sworn in in Kathmandu on Friday after his Rastriya Swatantra Party secured a commanding mandate in the March 5 parliamentary election, emerging just short of a two-thirds majority in the lower house. Fifteen other members of the new cabinet were also sworn in at a ceremony in Kathmandu.
Before entering politics, Shah trained as a structural engineer and built a following as a rap artist before winning the Kathmandu mayoral race as an independent. The RSP, which he now leads, is barely four years old. Its rise came on the back of a youth-led uprising in September that brought down the previous government, a period of unrest in which dozens were killed.
Khanal, a senior RSP leader who played a key role in forging the alliance that propelled Shah to office, takes charge of the foreign ministry at a time when India is looking to quickly establish working ties with the new dispensation in Kathmandu.
Khanal, who is now Nepal's foreign minister, had told The Wire in an interview two weeks ago that the new government intended to resolve its territorial disputes with India through dialogue rather than political confrontation. "Our commitment is to resolve such issues through dialogue rather than turning them into political contentious issues," he said.
Khanal had also outlined what the RSP was calling "development diplomacy" as the frame for its foreign policy, with connectivity as the central priority. He said the party wanted to speed up hydropower, road, rail and air connectivity projects with India, and pointed to electricity exports and transmission infrastructure as areas of early focus.
On China, he said the government did not plan to enter into a blanket framework agreement for Belt and Road Initiative projects, preferring to evaluate each on a case-by-case basis.
Shah arrives at the prime ministership with some history with India. As Kathmandu's mayor, he displayed a "Greater Nepal" map in his office in 2023, and in November 2025 posted an expletive-laden Facebook message targeting India before deleting it within half an hour.
He did his master's degree in structural engineering from Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology at Bengaluru. The institution’s website displayed a banner on Friday congratulating its former student. “Proud to have you as part of our distinguished alumni family,” it said.
When Modi tweeted about a phone call to RSP's two leaders before the election, Shah replied saying he looked forward to making the relationship more "outcome-oriented".
This article went live on March twenty-seventh, two thousand twenty six, at thirty-seven minutes past five in the evening.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
