India gifts 75 ambulances, 17 school buses to Nepali organizations
Jul 03, 2022
Kathmandu [Nepal], July 3 : India gifted 75 ambulances and 17 school buses to various beneficiary organizations of Nepal on Sunday, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said.
The keys were handed over by the Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Naveen Srivastava, in the presence of Devendra Paudel, Nepali Minister for Education, Science and Technology.
Ambassador Srivastava highlighted that the gifting of ambulances and school buses is part of a very robust and long-standing partnership between India and Nepal. 
Minister Poudel appreciated the Government of India for its ongoing developmental projects in Nepal and highlighted that these will further strengthen people-to-people linkages between the two nations. 
India continued to progress on its multifaceted relations with Nepal. India and Nepal share close and friendly relations characterized by age-old historical and cultural linkages, an open border and deep-rooted people-to-people contacts.
In consonance with the 'Neighbourhood First' Policy, there has been continued momentum in the bilateral ties with Nepal promoting greater connectivity, be it physical, economic, energy, digital or cultural, besides focusing on infrastructure development and capacity building.
India remains Nepal's largest trade partner. India provides transit for almost the entire third-country trade of Nepal. India's exports to Nepal have grown over 8 times in the past 10 years while exports from Nepal have almost doubled.
Despite the COVID-19 restrictions, various joint dialogue mechanisms were held during this period including Joint Project Monitoring Committee (JPMC) meeting on Earthquake reconstruction in September 2021, talks between Border Guard Forces of the two countries, India-Nepal Working Groups on Defence and Security issues and Railway Cooperation in October 2021 apart from 15th edition of Joint Military Training Exercise Surya Kiran in September-October 2021.
To help Nepal cope with the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, a Medical Oxygen Plant based on India's indigenous technology was installed at B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan in August 2021.
This plant has the capacity to serve 200 patients simultaneously, apart from ensuring an uninterrupted supply of Medical Oxygen to Nepal.
India-assisted development projects achieved substantial progress. A 34.9 km-long cross-border rail link connecting Jaynagar (Bihar) to Kurtha (Nepal) was handed over to Nepal Government on 22 October 2021 and all the 50,000 reconstructed housing units in Nuwakot and Gorkhali districts were handed over on 15 November 2021.
