Celebrating 70 years of Nepal-US friendship, a Cultural Mela was held at the Staff College in the Capital on Saturday. [...] Speaking to the Post, Cultural Affairs Officer of US embassy, William Holton, said, "Nepal and the US share a very good bilateral relationship. We have been helping each [other] in various ways through the decades and this event honours that special friendship." 

India moved Friday to oust a U.S. diplomat from the American Embassy here, hours after the departure from the United States of an Indian consular officer who was asked to leave after she was indicted on charges of visa fraud. What appeared to be a tit-for-tat action may lead to a calming of the month-long dispute that has roiled U.S.-Indian relations.

In an escalating diplomatic fight, India has demanded that US diplomats adhere to the country's traffic rules. On Wednesday, the Indian government also ordered the US Embassy in New Delhi to stop selling liquor and other duty-free goods to non-diplomats by Jan. 16. The moves are the latest retaliatory measures taken by India following the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade on visa fraud charges in New York last month.

India chipped away at America's diplomatic perks Wednesday, ordering the envoys to obey local traffic laws and warning that a popular U.S. Embassy club violates diplomatic law because it is open to outsiders. The moves were the latest in a campaign to exert pressure on the U.S. following the arrest and strip search last month of Devyani Khobragade, an Indian diplomat based in New York City.

India took retaliatory measures against the United States on Wednesday in a row over an Indian diplomat who complained of being stripped and forced to undergo “cavity searches” while in U.S. detention. The measures included a revision of work conditions of Indians employed at U.S. consulates and a freeze on the import of duty-free alcohol.