Press release

An Agreement was signed on August 24, 2006 between Ambassador of India to Nepal and Secretary, Ministry of Education and Sports, Government of Nepal on establishment of Nepal Bharat Maitri Vidyalaya at Pokhara. Establishment of this school was committed by the then External Affairs Minister of India when he had visited Dharan in Nepal on September 9, 1999. The school will have classes running from Class I to XII and it will be affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi. This is a long standing and cherished request of Indian ex-servicemen in Nepal and this school will help provide quality education to their wards and other Nepali students in Pokhara and its adjoining areas, as also Indian nationals in Pokhara.

The Nepal Bharat Maitri Vidyalaya in Pokhara will go a long way in enhancing academic and cultural environment and strengthen bonds of cooperation between India and Nepal in this vital sector of education. At present the Government of India is undertaking over 150 cooperation projects in Nepal, both big and small that have a total value of NRs. 1800 crores. All these projects are in three core areas, education, health and infrastructure that both countries have identified as pivotal to economic development.

Following Prime Minister Girja Prasad Koirala's visit to India in June 2006, when both countries resolved to further strengthen economic cooperation, Government of India has tripled its economic cooperation commitment under the Small Project Development Scheme and doubled the number of Government of India scholarships for students of Nepal. Through such programmes, Government of India reiterates its commitment to strengthen cooperation in the critical areas of health, infrastructure and human resources development in Nepal.