KATHMANDU, Sept 15: Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal has said the government is fully committed to conducting Nepal’s foreign policy with the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, national security and long-term national interests at its core.
Responding to questions raised in Tuesday’s meeting of the House of Representatives, Khanal clarified his recent remark during his official visit to India that the “current government has no old baggage.”
He said the remark referred to freeing foreign policy and diplomacy from the internal political polarization and narrow political weaponization seen in the past, and was not directed at Nepal’s history, national legacy or previous state decisions.
“The term ‘baggage’ naturally carries a negative connotation, referring to negative burdens or obstacles from the past,” Khanal said. He added that interpreting his statement as being against the continuity of the state and its legacy would be an exaggeration.
Foreign policy should serve Nepal’s domestic economic ambitions...
Khanal said using relations with neighboring countries as an instrument for domestic political gain or loss was the “burden” of the past that the current government wanted to leave behind.
Responding to questions from lawmaker Sita Thapaliya about whether the decision to incorporate the political map including Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura into the Constitution constituted “old baggage,” Khanal said it did not.
He described the political map and the constitutional amendment endorsing it as a unanimous parliamentary decision and a shared national commitment of the Nepali people.
“This is our constitutional and sovereign document, and cannot be considered a ‘burden’ under any circumstances,” Khanal said.
He stressed that protecting Nepal’s independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, national unity, borders and national dignity was the permanent and paramount responsibility of every government.
Khanal said the government sought to strengthen relations with neighboring and friendly countries on the basis of mutual equality, respect, trust and economic partnership, without being constrained by prejudice, narrow interests or unnecessary distrust.
He said the government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs aimed to achieve economic prosperity through clear, mature and results-oriented diplomacy while keeping national interests paramount.
Khanal also informed the House that he had undertaken official visits to India from June 5 to 7 and China from June 14 to 17, 2026, describing high-level visits as important for further strengthening bilateral relations with Nepal’s neighbors and other friendly countries.
