Kathmandu--India and Nepal have strengthened their bilateral partnership through a series of new initiatives focused on digital connectivity, infrastructure development, healthcare, and cultural heritage preservation.

During a meeting in New Delhi, India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal reviewed ongoing cooperation and explored avenues for deeper collaboration under India’s Neighbourhood First policy.

A key outcome of the meeting was the launch of the linkage between India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Nepal’s National Payments Interface, enabling seamless cross-border personal remittances between the two countries. The initiative is expected to make financial transactions faster, cheaper, and more convenient for citizens and migrant workers on both sides of the border.

Jaishankar also virtually handed over 72 health facilities and 12 cultural heritage reconstruction projects completed under India’s post-2015 earthquake reconstruction assistance programme. The projects are aimed at improving healthcare services and preserving Nepal’s cultural legacy while supporting the country’s long-term development efforts.

In another significant development, the two ministers witnessed the exchange of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Digital India Bhashini and Kathmandu University. The partnership will focus on co-creating Nepal’s National Digital Infrastructure for a “Voice First” language translation platform, leveraging artificial intelligence to improve multilingual communication and digital accessibility.

The initiatives reflect the growing scope of India-Nepal cooperation in technology, digital innovation, infrastructure, and people-to-people connectivity. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening the longstanding and multifaceted relationship between the two neighbouring countries.