The visit, expected to begin on April 20, will be the first by an Indian minister since Jhalanath Khanal took over as prime minister on February 3.
External affairs minister SM Krishna will undertake a three-day visit to Nepal next week, amid a political deadlock that has stalled the progress in the peace process and hindered the drafting of a new constitution by next month's deadline.
The visit, expected to begin on April 20, will be the first by an Indian minister since Jhalanath Khanal took over as prime minister on February 3.
Krishna's visit is being considered as significant as it comes at a time when Nepal's coalition government is horn-locked over the issue of cabinet expansion.
The disagreement between the coalition partners CPN-Maoists and CPN-UML has caused a major delay in the expansion of the cabinet and the country appears headed towards a political crisis with uncertainty surrounding the drafting of a new constitution, the deadline for which expires on May 28.
During the visit, the external affairs minister will meet Prime Minister Khanal and senior leaders of the ruling and opposition parties, highly placed sources said.
However, the details of the visit are yet to be worked out.
Krishna will, among other things, raise the issue of the security of Indian joint ventures in the country and concerns over the pushing of counterfeit currency into India through the porous border by a fake currency racket, sources said.
Indian envoy Rakesh Sood has already raised the issue of Maoists' upping their anti-India rhetoric even after joining the government.
Sood is learnt to have told Khanal that incidents like showing black flags to the Indian envoy, shouting anti-India slogans and even defacing Indian flags at public places by the Maoist cadres, which have been intensified recently, cannot possibly improve relations with India.
Sood was shown black flags when he paid visits to western Nepal districts towards the end of March to hand over India-aided projects to the local communities.
The Maoist cadres were also reported to have defaced Indian flags along the East-West highway, where India has built 22 bridges and undertaken a bulk of the road projects.
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