New Delhi, July 29: India on Tuesday confirmed that an invitation has been extend to Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah  for an official visit, even as there was no information on probable dates for the visit.

Speaking at the bi-weekly media briefing, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for Indian Ministry of External Affairs, said, “Invitation has been extended to Nepal PM Balen Shah to visit India.”

Soon after Shah was elected in March this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had congratulated him in a post on X, and said that he looks forward “to working closely with you (Shah) to take India-Nepal friendship and cooperation to even greater heights”. It is learnt that a formal invite has been sent to the Nepalese PM’s office through diplomatic channels.

In May, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was proposed to visit Kathmandu, where he was expected to call on the Nepal PM, and hand over an invitation to PM Shah to visit India. However, the visit was deferred as Shah had reportedly conveyed to his inner circle that he will not undertake any foreign visits in the near future – at least for the first 100 days of his term.