India is seen as a key developmental partner to Nepal with the latter being one of the first receipts of development aid from India. Development aid from India to Nepal has not only been associated with creation of infrastructure in the country but also with human capital development and ensuring long-term sustainability. Technical assistance and vocation training for skill development have been the focal points of India’s development cooperation programme. Development aid has thus been a cornerstone of India-Nepal relation. However, in the recent past, due to the political, administrative and constitutional changes in Nepal, the relation between the two countries has evolved, which has also affected India’s development partnership programme with Nepal. In July 2018, the Government of Nepal made changes to the design of India’s development partnership programme, which has an impact on India’s small development project (SDP) scheme, through which a majority of India’s assistance in
social sector was facilitated since the year 2003.
