U.S. Says It Seeks to Expand Economic Ties With Nepal, Not Force Geopolitical Choices
Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal meets with U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker in New York on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. Photo by Rajan Kafle/NepYork.
NEW YORK — The United States does not intend to ask Nepal to choose between Washington, Beijing and New Delhi. Instead, it wants to offer Kathmandu economic and commercial alternatives, a senior State Department official told NepYork.
“Similar to Bangladesh, where I don’t think we’re going to any country — and you’ll hear the Secretary talk about this — and say you have to choose,” the official said when asked how the United States views Nepal’s sovereignty as the Himalayan nation balances its relations with India and China.
“But what we want to do is we want to provide alternatives,” the official said. “We want to provide — for Nepal in particular, we’ve been very interested in increasing our commercial engagement.”
The official said the United States sees investment and business ties as a key area for strengthening the bilateral relationship.
“So for the first time ever this year, Nepal — I think they amended their law last year about outbound investment,” the official said. “We had the first Nepali delegation come to SelectUSA, the event that the Department of Commerce hosts.”
“This is a first step in how we do investments into Nepal,” the official said. “We want to make a better business environment and business climate. We want our companies there, and we want Nepali companies to be in the U.S.”
Asked about Nepal’s efforts to balance its relations with its two larger neighbors, the official acknowledged the country’s difficult geopolitical position.
“And so when we talk about balancing, we understand Nepal — I mean, you look at the map,” the official said. “They’re in a very — they’re in a tough spot in the world.”
The official said Nepal maintains a strong relationship with India and that Washington wants Nepal to have greater opportunities to deepen ties with the United States and other Western countries.
“They have a good relationship with India, and we want — we want to be able to provide that opportunity for them to also look to the West and have better relations with us,” the official said. “And that’s what we’re building towards.”