India gifts ambulances, school buses to various institutions

KATHMANDU: The Indian government has gifted 35 ambulances and 66 school buses to different institutions working in the fields of health and education in Nepal, respectively.

Issuing a statement on Sunday, the Embassy of India in Kathmandu said Ambassador of India to Nepal Naveen Srivastava handed over the keys of the motor vehicles to representatives of beneficiary institutions.

“Out of 101 motor vehicles gifted, two ambulances were handed over on location in the earthquake-affected Jajarkot and West Rukum districts by the representative of the Embassy of India in the presence of district officials and local residents,” the embassy added in the statement.

India has been gifting ambulances and school buses on the occasion of its Independence Day and Republic Day for the past three decades to various beneficiary organizations in different parts of Nepal.

“This has been one of the long-standing initiatives of the Government of India under the Nepal-India Development Partnership to bolster the efforts of the Government of Nepal to strengthen its infrastructure in health and education sectors,” Ambassador Srivastava said in the hand-over ceremony.

Minister for Finance Barsha Man Pun, who was also present in the hand-over ceremony, appreciated India’s ongoing developmental projects in Nepal and said that these projects will continue to strengthen people-to-people connectivity and bilateral relations between the two countries.