Operation Sindhu to cricket camp: India, Nepal deepen ties before Oli takes Delhi flight

India and Nepal are witnessing a steady upswing in relations ahead of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s expected visit to New Delhi in September, his first trip to India since taking office in July 2024.

Oli, who chose Beijing for his maiden foreign visit, has so far skipped the traditional early stop in India, long regarded as a marker of the close relationship between the two neighbours.

India’s defence and humanitarian support

On Monday, India handed over military equipment, medical supplies, and trained dogs and horses to the Nepalese Army. The gesture came just weeks before Oli’s Delhi trip.

A day earlier, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri arrived in Kathmandu and held talks with Oli, Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba, and senior officials led by Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai.

Formal invitation extended

After Oli’s swearing-in last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated him and expressed hope of working together to “further strengthen the deep bonds of friendship.” But a formal invitation came only this week, when Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, during a Kathmandu visit, conveyed an invitation for Oli to visit India on “mutually convenient dates.”

“We discussed the full range of India-Nepal relations, with a focus on strengthening connectivity, trade, and development cooperation,” Deuba said after her meeting with Misri. Nepal, she added, values India’s Neighbourhood First policy.

The MEA, in its readout, underlined that Nepal remains a priority partner and said Misri’s visit advanced the tradition of high-level exchanges.

Operation Sindhu and beyond

The renewed engagement builds on recent cooperation, a contrast to the strains seen during Oli’s previous term following a border dispute.

In June, India evacuated three Nepalese nationals from Iran during the Israel–Iran conflict under Operation Sindhu.

Pahalgam attack and Nepal’s support for Operation Sindoor

This came after Nepal expressed solidarity with India over the April Pahalgam terror attack, where a Nepalese national was among 26 killed. Kathmandu also backed India’s Operation Sindoor, which targeted terror camps across the border.

Security ties have advanced as well. At recent home secretary-level talks in New Delhi, officials discussed cross-border crime, boundary management, and coordination at the district level.

Cricket diplomacy

On the cultural front, India is backing Nepal’s cricket ambitions. The Nepal Men’s National Cricket Team will attend a high-performance training camp at the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru from 20 August to 4 September.

From defence support and crisis evacuations to cricket cooperation, the recent momentum signals a warmer phase in bilateral ties as Oli prepares for his long-delayed Delhi visit.