For almost two weeks, officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were too busy. Under the leadership of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, acting foreign secretary Shanker Das Bairagi, chief of protocol Kali Prasad Rimal and India section headed by Amrit Rai, were directly involved in the preparation of the visit. Handling the visit in a professional manner, Ministry of Foreign Affairs has shown why there is need to make the ministry more competent as a professional institution.

The visit of foreign dignitaries does not involve only sightseeing or meeting. However, it often involves high level talks, negotiations and signing of agreements as well. In the case of arranging the visit of prime minister of a neighboring country, it is a more important and difficult task than any other such occasions. Making this high level visit successful, the ministry has won the credit it is getting.

For chief of Protocol Division Kali Prasad Rimal, the days were so hectic that his section operated almost all the day till midnight. Experienced in negotiations in Geneva mission, acting foreign secretary Bairagi also played an important role in the process of negotiations and making the visit successful. As a head of Protocol Division, Rimal handled all important aspects of the visit. Rimal’s division remained busy throughout the week in preparation of the visit and formulating the schedules.

As Nepal is hosting the coming Summit of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in November and the summit of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) next year, the visit of Indian prime minister Modi was a warm-up event.

Presence of Dinesh Prasad Bhattarai, a career diplomat who retired after serving over 30 years in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including heading the Geneva Mission, as Prime Minister Sushil Koirala’s foreign affairs advisor, was also an asset for the visit.

The team work showed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was exemplary. At a time when the debate is going on over political shares in the appointment of ambassadors, career diplomats have shown that the country is safer in their hands, given them their due role.