New Delhi - Nepali Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Thursday evening, on the sidelines of the NDTV World Summit 2026. The meeting came shortly after the Indian leader addressed a major session at the high-profile international gathering, capping a day in which Wagle also held direct talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar on Nepal-India relations and regional issues.
Wagle, who arrived in the Indian capital on Thursday as an international guest speaker at the summit, combined his speaking commitments with a series of high-level political engagements. According to a report by Khabarhub, his encounter with Prime Minister Modi took place after the major session addressed by the Indian prime minister, while Ratopati reported that his exchange with Jaishankar unfolded as an engaging question-and-answer conversation tracing the journey from multilateralism to regional cooperation.
Face to Face with Prime Minister Modi
Wagle reached New Delhi on Thursday as an international guest speaker at the NDTV World Summit 2026, an event convened by the Indian news broadcaster NDTV to host discussions among global voices on the state of world affairs. His meeting with Prime Minister Modi took place that same evening, shortly after the major session in which the Indian leader had appeared at the summit.
While a detailed readout of the conversation between the two was not immediately made public, the meeting itself carried clear significance. It brought Nepal's finance minister face to face with the head of government of India, Nepal's immediate neighbour and one of the most influential voices in the region, on the sidelines of a summit designed to showcase international perspectives on a changing world.
The timing also mattered. By meeting Modi within hours of landing in the Indian capital, Wagle underscored the priority Kathmandu places on maintaining open channels with New Delhi at the highest level, even though the visit itself was framed around his role as a summit speaker rather than a dedicated bilateral trip.
An Engaging Exchange with Jaishankar
Alongside the meeting with Modi, Wagle held direct talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar. The two discussed Nepal-India relations and regional issues, with Ratopati describing their interaction as an interesting question-and-answer exchange built around the theme of the journey from multilateralism to regional cooperation.
The discussions covered several interconnected threads:
- Nepal-India relations: The talks provided an opportunity to review the state of the bilateral relationship directly with India's external affairs minister, a central figure in shaping New Delhi's neighbourhood policy.
- Regional issues: The conversation extended beyond strictly bilateral matters to take in the wider regional picture, consistent with the summit's focus on global and regional order.
- From multilateralism to regional cooperation: The framing of the exchange reflected a growing global debate over the health of multilateral institutions and the rising importance of regional mechanisms, a question that bears directly on how countries such as Nepal navigate a shifting international landscape.
The exchange with Jaishankar dovetailed with Wagle's own speaking engagement at the summit, where he appeared at a session titled "A World Between Orders." Both the session title and the theme of his conversation with the external affairs minister pointed in the same direction: a world in transition, in which countries are rethinking how they cooperate, at what level, and with whom.
'A World Between Orders' and a Note of Thanks to India
Wagle's formal speaking role came at a session titled "A World Between Orders," one of the headline discussions at the NDTV World Summit 2026. The title spoke to the central preoccupation of the moment in world affairs: the transition between established and emerging orders, and what that transition means for countries finding their place in the international system.
During his remarks, the finance minister praised India's assistance to Nepal during recent disasters. The note of appreciation highlighted one of the more visible strands of cooperation between the two neighbours, in which India has extended support to Nepal in times of crisis. For a country still contending with the aftermath of recent calamities, the acknowledgment carried both practical and diplomatic weight.
A Packed Day of Diplomacy
Taken together, Wagle's engagements in New Delhi amounted to a full day of diplomacy conducted largely on the margins of a media summit. His schedule included:
- Arrival and speaking role: Wagle arrived in New Delhi on Thursday as an international guest speaker and addressed the session "A World Between Orders."
- Meeting with Prime Minister Modi: The two met on Thursday evening at the summit, after the major session addressed by the Indian prime minister.
- Talks with External Affairs Minister Jaishankar: The finance minister held direct discussions with Jaishankar on Nepal-India relations and regional issues, framed around the journey from multilateralism to regional cooperation.
- Public appreciation: Wagle used his summit platform to praise India's assistance to Nepal during recent disasters.
The day of engagements highlighted the continuing momentum of high-level contact between Kathmandu and New Delhi, and gave Nepal's finance minister a platform to present his country's perspective before an international audience in the Indian capital. As reports by Khabarhub and Ratopati indicate, the visit blended formal summit participation with direct political engagement at the highest levels of the Indian government.
