Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah is holding his first one-on-one meetings Monday with envoys from neighbouring giants China and India, his office said.The rapper-turned-leader, 36, better known as "Balen", has kept low profile since taking power in March, largely avoiding hosting foreign envoys individually.
The landlocked Himalayan nation of 30 million people must ensure a delicate diplomatic balance between rivals New Delhi and Beijing.Shah, speaking to AFP ahead of his election, said that he wanted to "maintain a natural relationship" with both nations.
He has previously only met foreign ambassadors in groups, while visits to China and India in June were made by Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal.Shah's office said he had met with India's ambassador on Monday morning, and would meet China's envoy later in the day.
"The two discussed various matters related to Nepal-India bilateral friendship, mutual interests, development partnership, and areas of cooperation," his office said in a statement after meeting with India's ambassador.India has long considered Hindu-majority Nepal as a traditional ally, with open borders along the plains.
Kathmandu's largest trading partner is India, accounting for 63 percent of Nepal's imports, or $8.6 billion, followed by China at 13 percent, or $1.8 billion, according to World Bank figures.
The meeting with China comes after a major international academic conference on Tibet, in which more than 700 delegates were due to meet in the Nepali capital later this month, was stopped from taking place inside the country, organisers said.
No reason has been given and Nepal's government has denied that it gave the order -- although the country is acutely aware of how sensitive the issue of Tibet is to China.
Beijing, which in 1950 sent troops to the vast high-altitude plateau it describes as an integral part of China, has long opposed international activities it sees as challenging its sovereignt