KATHMANDU: Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar is expected to visit Kathmandu later this month to personally invite Prime Minister Balendra Shah ‘Balen’ to the upcoming BRICS Summit, according to diplomatic sources.

Jaishankar is preparing to travel to Nepal in the final week of August and is expected to meet Prime Minister Shah during the visit, the sources said.

Vijay Chauthaiwale, head of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Foreign Affairs Department, is also expected to visit Kathmandu around the same time.

Indian media outlet NDTV is scheduled to host an event in Kathmandu on August 26. The visits by Jaishankar and Chauthaiwale are expected to coincide with the event, with both officials likely to hold diplomatic and political meetings during their stay, according to sources at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.

The visit would come as the new Nepali government seeks to strengthen engagement with both India and other major regional powers.

Former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ previously attended the BRICS Summit. During the summit, Dahal held meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.