India, officially the Republic of India, has full diplomatic relations with 201 states, including Palestine, the Holy See, and Niue. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is the government agency responsible for the conduct of foreign relations of India. With the world's third largest military expenditure, second largest armed force, fifth largest economy by GDP nominal rates and third largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity, India is a prominent regional power and a rising superpower.
Kathmandu, officially "Kathmandu Metropolitan City", is the National Capital Territory and the most populous city of Nepal with 845,767 inhabitants living in 105,649 households as of the 2021 Nepal census and approximately 4 million people in its urban agglomeration. It is located in the Kathmandu Valley, a large valley surrounded by hills in the high plateaus in central Nepal, at an altitude of 1,400 metres.
Though the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is the government agency which is responsible for conducting the foreign relations of Nepal, historically, it is the Office of the Prime Minister (PMO) which has exercised the authority to formulate the country's foreign policies. As a landlocked country wedged between two larger and far stronger powers, Nepal has tried to maintain good relations with both of its neighbors, People's Republic of China and Republic of India. However, the relationship between Nepal and India was significantly hampered by the 2015 Nepal blockade when the Government of Nepal accused India of mimicking "Russia-Ukraine" tactics by using ethnically Indian residents of Nepal to cause unrest along Nepal's southern border. India denied the allegation and said the unrest were an internal affair. For the most part though, Nepal has traditionally maintained a non-aligned policy and enjoys friendly relations with its neighboring countries and almost all the major countries of the world.
Bhutan has diplomatic relations with 54 of 193 member states of the United Nations and the European Union. Bhutan's limited number of such relations, including the absence of formal relations with any of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, is part of a deliberate isolationist policy of limiting foreign influence in the state. This stance has been safeguarded by close relations with India, of which Bhutan has previously been considered a protected state.
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, and India to the south, east, and west, while it is narrowly separated from Bangladesh by the Siliguri Corridor, and from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and the largest city. Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural state, with Nepali as the official language.
Bachendri Pal is an Indian mountaineer. In 1984, she became the first Indian woman to climb the summit of the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest. She was awarded the third highest civilian award in India, Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2019.
Janakpurdham or Janakpur, is a sub-metropolitan city in Dhanusha district, Madhesh Province, Nepal. The city is a hub for religious and cultural tourism. A headquarter of Dhanusha district, Janakpur is also the capital for Madhesh Province.
India–Nepal relations are the bilateral relations between the Republic of India and the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. Both countries initiated their relationship with the 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship and accompanying secret letters that defined security relations between the two countries, and an agreement governing both bilateral trade and trade transiting Indian territory.
In 1986, the Israeli embassy in Kathmandu organized a Passover celebration as a service to the 7,000 Israelis who visit Nepal annually. The celebration was taken over in 1999 by the Chabad (/ħabad/) movement, a Hassidic Jewish movement that specializes in outreach to nonobservant Jews. Prior to 1986, there was no organized practice of Judaism in Nepal, and there is no native Jewish community.
The bilateral relations between Nepal and China are defined by the Sino-Nepalese Treaty of Peace and Friendship signed on April 28, 1960, by the two countries. Though initially unenthusiastic, Nepal has been of late making efforts to increase trade and connectivity with China. Relations between Nepal and China got a boost when both countries solved all border disputes along the China–Nepal border by signing the Sino-Nepal boundary agreement on March 21, 1960, making Nepal the first neighboring country of China to conclude a border treaty with China. The governments of both Nepal and China ratified the border treaty on October 5, 1961. From 1975 onward, Nepal has maintained a policy of balancing the competing influence of China and Nepal's southern neighbor India, the only two neighbors of the Himalayan country after the accession of the Kingdom of Sikkim into India in 1975.
Nepal–Pakistan relations refer to the bilateral relations between Nepal and Pakistan, both Himalayan states located in the Indian subcontinent. After the Partition of British India in August 1947, Nepal moved to establish diplomatic relations with the Dominion of India, but did not do so with the Dominion of Pakistan. Official diplomatic ties did not exist between the two states until initial steps were taken on 29 March 1960; these relations were then fully established in 1962 and 1963. Both nations have since sought to expand their bilateral trade, strategic and military cooperation. In 1972, following Pakistan's defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War and the secession of East Pakistan as the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Nepal recognized the latter's independence. Pakistan severed ties with Nepal shortly afterwards, but these were later re-established.
Abhay Kumar [Pen Name Abhay K.] is an Indian poet-diplomat, editor, translator and anthologist. and currently serves as the deputy director general of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), New Delhi. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 2003 after doing master's in geography at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Kirorimal College, Delhi University. He served as India's 21st ambassador to Madagascar and Comoros from 2019-2022 and as India's Deputy Ambassador to Brazil from 2016-2019. He earlier served as Spokesperson and First Secretary at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal from 2012-2016 and as Acting Consul General of India in St. Petersburg, and Third/Second Secretary at Indian Embassy, Moscow, Russia from 2005 to 2010. He served as Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of External Affairs from 2010-2012 and sent out the first tweet on its behalf in 2010 starting a new era of India's Digital Diplomacy.
The American Library in New Delhi is a library under the supervision of the United States embassy, situated in the commercial hub of New Delhi inside the American Center. Opened in 1951, the Library was established to promote understanding between the people of India and the United States. The library has books on topics related to American society, American politics, American culture, and the American constitution which it serves to general public, students, teachers, and researchers.
Bharat Jangam, also known as Bharat Mani Jangam is a novelist and freelance journalist from Nepal. He is best known for the book Kalo Surya. Bharat Jangam is a creator of the "science of anticorruption" in the academic arena. His neo-science is based on modern problems of humans, which is approved Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu. He is also a Hindu activist. He currently lives in Kathmandu, Nepal. He has also been conferred the title of "Father of Anti-Corruption Science".
Kesar Lall was a Nepalese folklorist and writer. He has published more than 50 books of stories and poetry. He wrote in Nepali, Nepal Bhasa and English.
Greater Nepal is an irredentist concept in Nepal, which claims current Indian and Bangladeshi territories beyond Nepal's present-day boundaries. These claims typically include the areas controlled by Nepal between 1791 and 1816, a period that ended with the Anglo-Nepalese War and the signing of Sugauli Treaty. In addition, extensive territories in the present-day Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and some parts of Bangladesh are also included in the claims of the activist organisation Greater Nepal Nationalist Front, which demands the "return" of these territories to Nepal. A map similar to theirs was displayed by the mayor of Kathmandu in his office in June 2023, in reaction to an alleged "Akhand Bharat" map in the Indian Parliament building.
Malaysia–Nepal relations refer to bilateral foreign relations between Malaysia and Nepal. Malaysia has an embassy in Kathmandu, and Nepal has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
Neighbourhood First Policy of India is a core component of India's foreign policy. It focuses on peaceful relations and collaborative synergetic co-development with its South Asian neighbours of the Indian subcontinent encompassing a diverse range of topics, such as economics, technology, research, education, connectivity, space program, defence security, environment and climate challenge. This policy creates new avenues as well as leverages to the existing regional cooperation initiatives such as SAARC, SASEC, BBIN, and BIMSTEC. It compliments India's Look East policy focused on Southeast Asia and Look West Policy focused on Middle East.
The 2015 India Blockade of Nepal, which began on 23 September 2015 and lasted about six months, was an economic and humanitarian crisis that severely affected Nepal and its economy.
The Embassy of India in Kathmandu is the diplomatic mission of the Republic of India to Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.
