Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah yesterday held his first one-on-one meetings with envoys from neighbouring giants China and India, his office said.

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 met India’s ambassador in the morning and 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.

The meeting with China comes after a major international academic conference on Tibet was stopped from taking place inside the country.