India and Nepal partner on AI language platform for digital inclusion
India's Digital India BHASHINI Division and Kathmandu University's Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure and Artificial Intelligence signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop multilingual translation and language technologies. The agreement was signed by Amitabh Nag, CEO of the Digital India BHASHINI Division, and Prof. Bal Krishna Bal, Associate Dean at Kathmandu University, during bilateral engagements in New Delhi.
The partnership aims to create a voice-first generative AI and LLM ecosystem for Nepal while expanding multilingual digital public services. India's External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and Nepal's Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal witnessed the signing.
What the collaboration covers
The two institutions will develop high-quality Nepali language datasets, speech-to-text and text-to-speech systems, machine translation tools, and multilingual conversational AI capabilities. They will also focus on preserving and digitizing linguistic heritage of low-resource and underrepresented languages across the India-Nepal region.
The MoU includes joint research projects, training programmes, capacity-building initiatives and pilot projects in Natural Language Processing and multilingual AI development.
Digital access for underserved communities
The partnership addresses a concrete problem: communities whose languages lack digital infrastructure struggle to access online services. By expanding digital public services in local languages, the collaboration aims to reduce barriers related to language, literacy and digital access.
Nag said the partnership extends BHASHINI's Digital Public Infrastructure model across South Asia. Prof. Bal said the agreement reflects both countries' commitment to using AI for linguistic inclusion and social impact.
BHASHINI's current reach
BHASHINI, India's national initiative for AI-driven multilingual digital inclusion, currently supports 36 Indian text languages, 23 Indian voice languages and 35 international languages. The platform powers more than 800 government websites and processes over 15 million AI inferences daily.
Officials expect the collaboration to create opportunities in education, skill development, digital commerce and public services for students, entrepreneurs and professionals in Nepal.
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