India, Nepal partner to advance multilingual AI and digital public infrastructure

India’s Digital India BHASHINI Division and Kathmandu University’s Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure & Artificial Intelligence (DPI-AI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on June 7, 2026, to advance multilingual AI and digital public infrastructure (DPI). The partnership aims to create high-quality language datasets, speech corpora, and AI tools for Nepali and other underrepresented languages in the India-Nepal region. The collaboration will focus on developing speech-to-text, text-to-speech, machine translation, and multilingual conversational AI capabilities. Amitabh Nag, CEO of the Digital India BHASHINI Division, stated that the initiative extends India’s DPI model beyond its borders, strengthening shared linguistic and cultural ties while supporting inclusive digital ecosystems. The MoU was exchanged in the presence of India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar and Nepal’s Foreign Affairs Minister Shishir Khanal, highlighting both nations’ commitment to digital transformation and technological cooperation. The project will also prioritize preserving and digitizing linguistic heritage, ensuring communities at risk of digital extinction gain access to AI-powered tools in their mother tongues. Professor Bal Krishna Bal, Associate Dean of Kathmandu University, emphasized that the partnership fosters people-to-people connections and equitable access to opportunities by overcoming language and digital barriers. The initiative aligns with broader goals of leveraging AI for social impact and bridging gaps in literacy and digital inclusion across South Asia.