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FS Misri travels to Kathmandu this week as Nepal and India set stage for Balendra Shah’s New Delhi visit Kathmandu, Nov 2 (IANS) Nepal and India on Monday simultaneously announced that Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri would visit Kathmandu on November 4-5, a visit expected to lay the groundwork for Nepali Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s upcoming trip to India. Prime Minister Shah is expected to visit New Delhi later this month, according to officials at the Prime Minister’s Office and Nepal’s Foreign Ministry. Separate statements issued by Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday said that Misri will hold bilateral talks with Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai during his two-day official visit. “The two sides will review the full range of Nepal-India relations and exchange views on matters of mutual interest, with a view to further strengthening the long-standing, close and friendly ties between the two countries,” Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Misri is also scheduled to pay courtesy calls on senior Nepali dignitaries, the ministry said. India’s MEA said the visit would cover bilateral, regional and global matters of mutual interest. “India and Nepal share strong and friendly ties which have seen substantial progress across diverse areas of cooperation,” it said “The Foreign Secretary’s upcoming visit continues the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries and will help further enhance the comprehensive bilateral partnership.” During the visit, the two sides are expected to discuss the potential agenda for Prime Minister Shah’s upcoming trip to New Delhi. Nepali officials said Nepal aimed to make Shah’s visit meaningful by securing tangible progress on several issues on which it was seeking India’s cooperation. “Nepal will seek a substantial assistance package from India in the wake of the devastation caused by the August 26 floods. Nepal also wants notable progress on issues including the settlement of the border dispute, revision of the trade treaty and additional air entry points for international flights via India, among others,” a Nepali Foreign Ministry official said. The two sides are also expected to inaugurate several projects involving bilateral cooperation during Prime Minister Shah’s proposed visit. New Delhi had initially planned to send Misri to Kathmandu in the second week of May to engage with the new government after the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) formed a government under Shah’s leadership. However, the proposed visit was postponed, with protocol issues cited as a reason. –IANS scor/as

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Paris: Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri addresses a special media briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France in Paris on Thursday, June 18, 2026. (Photo: IANS/Video Grab)

New Delhi visit Kathmandu, Nov 2 (IANS): Nepal and India on Monday simultaneously announced that Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri would visit Kathmandu on November 4-5, a visit expected to lay the groundwork for Nepali Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s upcoming trip to India. Prime Minister Shah is expected to visit New Delhi later this month, according to officials at the Prime Minister’s Office and Nepal’s Foreign Ministry. Separate statements issued by Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday said that Misri will hold bilateral talks with Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai during his two-day official visit.

“The two sides will review the full range of Nepal-India relations and exchange views on matters of mutual interest, with a view to further strengthening the long-standing, close and friendly ties between the two countries,” Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Misri is also scheduled to pay courtesy calls on senior Nepali dignitaries, the ministry said. India’s MEA said the visit would cover bilateral, regional and global matters of mutual interest. “India and Nepal share strong and friendly ties which have seen substantial progress across diverse areas of cooperation,” it said “The Foreign Secretary’s upcoming visit continues the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries and will help further enhance the comprehensive bilateral partnership.

” During the visit, the two sides are expected to discuss the potential agenda for Prime Minister Shah’s upcoming trip to New Delhi. Nepali officials said Nepal aimed to make Shah’s visit meaningful by securing tangible progress on several issues on which it was seeking India’s cooperation. “Nepal will seek a substantial assistance package from India in the wake of the devastation caused by the August 26 floods. Nepal also wants notable progress on issues including the settlement of the border dispute, revision of the trade treaty and additional air entry points for international flights via India, among others,” a Nepali Foreign Ministry official said. The two sides are also expected to inaugurate several projects involving bilateral cooperation during Prime Minister Shah’s proposed visit.

New Delhi had initially planned to send Misri to Kathmandu in the second week of May to engage with the new government after the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) formed a government under Shah’s leadership. However, the proposed visit was postponed, with protocol issues cited as a reason. –IANS scor/as

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Pakistan’s ranking in World Justice Project Rule of Law Index warrants reflection Islamabad, Nov 2 (IANS) Pakistan’s ranking in the World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index 2025 warrants reflection and not dismissal or indiscriminate blame. Pakistan secured the 130th spot among 143 nations in the WJP Rule of Law Index 2025, a report has detailed. The index assesses eight components, including constraints on government powers, corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice and criminal justice. Several of these dimensions are influenced by courts but they do not determine them all. The overall standing of the country must be seen as the picture of its wider rule of law environment and not a verdict on its courts, a report in leading Pakistani daily ‘The Express Tribune’ mentioned. Pakistan secured 129th spot in Civil Justice and was ranked 101st in Criminal Justice. According to the WJP Rule of Law Index 2025, Pakistan scored 0.36 on accessibility and affordability of civil justice, 0.28 on unreasonable delay and 0.35 on effective enforcement. “International indices can reveal shortcomings and encourage reform, but surveys and expert assessments should be considered alongside institutional records and lived experience. Some evidence underlying annual assessments predates recent changes, whose effects may take time to emerge. Pakistan’s ranking warrants reflection, neither dismissal nor indiscriminate blame,” Shahid Hussain Kamboyo wrote in ‘The Express Tribune’. “Ultimately, justice must be felt in the worker who recovers his wages, the widow who secures her inheritance, and the pensioner who receives relief while it still matters. The true measure of progress is not a better place on a table, but a lasting public confidence that the law will protect people when they need it most,” it added. On October 30, a leading human rights organisation severely condemned the 10-year prison sentences handed down to human rights lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, in Pakistan, in connection with a security breach case, describing it as a “clear example of the helplessness of the judiciary in Pakistan, the absence of justice, and a system based on military dominance”. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) said that sentencing the couple to 10 years in prison each “is an attempt to silence the struggle for the defence of human rights and justice.” It stated that Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha were not only lawyers but human rights activists who always raised their voices against the atrocities committed against the Baloch, Pashtun, and other oppressed nations, and have consistently played a leading role in the struggle for justice. In a statement shared on X, the BYC said, “Sentencing Iman Zainab Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha to ten years in prison each is a clear example of the helplessness of the judiciary in Pakistan, the absence of justice, and a system based on military dominance. It is a reality that those who tirelessly struggle day and night to secure justice for others in a tyrannical state, and who raise their voices for the protection of human rights, eventually find themselves standing in the dock of a court under an oppressive system, forced to face state injustice themselves.” It mentioned that Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha expressed solidarity with the family impacted by state oppression, including enforced disappearances. The couple, the statement mentioned, is today facing injustice under the very system against which they have spoken for the rights of the oppressed. It said that the couple has been deprived of justice and was dealing with injustice. The BYC’s statement came as the anti-terrorism court in Islamabad announced a verdict in a case connected to removing barricades placed on the road during a cricket match in Islamabad in 2024 and sentenced Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha to 10 years in prison each. They were also fined Pakistani Rupees (PKR) one lakh each under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997. “The question is: Is raising one’s voice for justice a crime? Is standing with oppressed nations a punishable act? And is the attempt to silence those who defend human rights precisely because they dare to speak out against state oppression? The sentence handed down to Iman Zainab Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha is not merely the punishment of two individuals; rather, it is an alarming message to all those voices that speak out for the oppressed and resist injustice. When lawyers and human rights activists begin to feel unsafe themselves, it is only natural for questions to arise about the entire justice system,” the BYC posted on X. –IANS akl/as
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