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India announces $1 billion in aid for Nepal
June 25, 2015, 5:52 am

Photo taken on April 26, 2015 shows an ancient bell after an earthquake at the Durbar Square in Patan, Nepal [Xinhua]

Photo taken on April 26, 2015 shows an ancient bell after an earthquake at the Durbar Square in Patan, Nepal [Xinhua]

India on Thursday announced $1 billion in aid for rebuilding Nepal after a devastating earthquake in April.

“From the debris of destruction a stronger united and more confident Nepal will rise,” Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said at an international donors meet in Nepalese capital Kathmandu, adding that a quarter of the amount will be in the form of grants and the rest in loans.

China has pledged 3 billion yuan ($483 mln) at the international conference in Nepal on Thursday.

The aid will be used in infrastructure reconstruction, including key heritage sites.

Only a fraction of the emergency funds the United Nations has requested for victims of Nepal’s earthquake have come in, UN officials said last month, as crises around the world put unprecedented demands on international donors.

The UN attributed the shortage to “donor fatigue,” citing more than a dozen other long-running international crises, such as the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, which are also making demands on donor nations.

The 7.8 earthquake that struck northwest of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu on April 25 has killed at least 7,759 people, injured over 16,000, and destroyed more than 300,000 homes.

 

TBP and Agencies