As the 18th BRICS Summit gets underway in New Delhi, political leaders and foreign policy analysts in Kathmandu are actively debating Nepal's chances of engaging with the summit, even though the country is not a member of the bloc.
Guided by the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability," this summit marks India’s fourth chairmanship of BRICS. While some political commentators suggest that Nepal could have secured an invitation by demonstrating proactive interest, an analysis of the participant list of both member and non-member states reveals that the chances of receiving an invite were always slim.
Speculation had mounted after media reports claimed that Bangladesh's prime minister had been invited to the summit. However, Bangladesh’s foreign minister clarified that India extended the invitation to their prime minister in her capacity as head of BIMSTEC, rather than as a bilateral guest.
This time, India chose not to extend diplomatic invitations to the heads of state or government of other South Asian nations, making the likelihood of Nepal being an exception minimal.
This contrasts with the 2016 summit held in Goa under the theme "Building Responsive, Inclusive, and Collective Solutions," where India hosted a dedicated BRICS–BIMSTEC Outreach segment. As a member of BIMSTEC, then-Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal attended that event and engaged directly with BRICS leaders, but India chose not to replicate that broad regional outreach format for the current summit.
Foreign Ministry officials in Kathmandu view Nepal’s exclusion through a nuanced lens. On one hand, the formation of a powerful new government under Prime Minister Balendra Shah—following the Rastriya Swatantra Party's landslide election victory in March—attracted significant international interest, raising expectations for invitations to multilateral forums like BRICS. On the other hand, the administration adopted a heavily inward-looking stance during its initial months.
Prime Minister Shah pledged not to undertake overseas travel for at least a year, signaling to the international community that he would not participate in foreign events. Furthermore, he did not hold meetings with the ambassadors of key major powers—including India, China, and the United States—for his first four months in office, temporarily stalling communication with the nations driving such global events.
In fact, Prime Minister Shah was initially unwilling to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA); it was only the August 26 floods that ultimately prompted him to make the trip. Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has similarly focused on domestic governance issues rather than diplomatic outreach, further narrowing Nepal's international engagement. Observers note that if Prime Minister Shah had undertaken an official bilateral visit to New Delhi earlier, he might have generated the momentum required for an invitation.
Likewise, if SAARC were functioning actively, Nepal might have earned a seat at the summit table as the sitting SAARC Chair. Consequently, Nepal’s participation in other regional and international platforms remains uncertain until the government clearly signals its willingness to engage.
