India vows $1 billion aid to Nepal for reconstruction

Kathmandu: Led by India and China, global donors on Thursday pledged over $3.5 billion as aid to Nepal, meeting half of the $6.7 billion needed to rebuild the quake-devastated nation, as Nepalese PM vowed “full transparency” and “zero-tolerance” to corruption in disbursing the relief money to the victims.

At the day-long international donors’ conference, India announced the largest aid of $1 billion to the quake-ravaged country for its massive reconstruction programme. Pledging the aid, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj asserted that India will strongly stand behind the Nepalese government to “wipe the tears”.