India pledges USD one billion for Nepal's reconstruction

India pledged an assistance of USD one billion to the quake-ravaged Nepal for its massive re-construction programme.

The announcement was made by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during the International Donors' Conference in Kathmandu today.

Swaraj said that one fourth of the assistance will be grant and it will be over-and-above India's existing bilateral developmental assistance of another one billion dollars over the next five years.

She conveyed India's commitment to the re-building of Nepal and highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured a prompt rescue and relief operation within six hours of the 7.9-magnitude earthquake.

The conference, organised by the Nepalese Government to raise funds to re-build the country, was attended by several countries, including China, Japan and Britain, besides United Nations, European Union, World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Meanwhile, China and Asian Development Bank has pledged an assistance of USD 500 million and USD 600 million respectively.

About 9,000 people were killed due to the devastating earthquake that hit the Himalayan nation on the 25th of April. Around 23,000 were injured, with lakhs of houses destroyed.