NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — USAID, the official development cooperation agency of the US government, remains the top donor to Nepal, India is in the fifth place, displacing China. But New Delhi is also behind the UK, Japan and Switzerland in Nepal's development partners.
The report said India disbursed $35.76 million between July 2015 and 2016. India returned to Nepal's top five donors after its Official Development Assistance (ODA) disbursement to the country declined by over 50 percent in the year before.
In 2015-16, USAID gave $118.93 million to Nepal, followed by the UK with $89.47 million. With $45.91 million in ODA, Japan stood third ahead of Switzerland, which disbursed $36.98 million, marginally higher than India.
Indian ODA comprises mainly of technical assistance to Nepal through scholarships, training and study tours.
"Indian ODA to Nepal in recent years has mostly come in the form of investments in infrastructure projects, capacity building and other measures which promote our strategic and economic interests in the country. China too is investing and investing heavily in Nepal. We can't ignore that. But still compared to many other countries, India's aid policy towards countries in the region is also guided by shared history and culture and cover sectors which create mutual benefits," Professor Abdul Nafey of the New Delhi-based Jawaharlal Nehru University told Sputnik.
Building mutually beneficial economic partnerships and promotion of core infrastructure sectors is a key motive of Indian ODA policy.
"India provides aid to her neighbors in sectors that hold mutual economic-strategic interest, such as transport, energy and democracy. In this manner, India acknowledges the development needs of her neighbors, especially smaller landlocked countries like Bhutan and Nepal. Development cooperation is encouraged in areas with vast potential such as hydropower electricity in Bhutan, road and rail connectivity projects in Nepal," Preety Bhogal, Research Fellow, with the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, said in an article.
