India And Nepal Partner To Build Voice-First Multilingual AI Infrastructure
India and Nepal have strengthened their digital cooperation through a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at advancing multilingual artificial intelligence, language technology and digital public infrastructure. The agreement brings together the Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Kathmandu University’s Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure & Artificial Intelligence (DPI-AI).
The partnership seeks to create a collaborative framework for developing language AI solutions and building a voice-first language translation platform for Nepal while promoting inclusive digital ecosystems across both countries.
MoU Signed During High-Level Bilateral Engagement
The MoU was signed by Amitabh Nag, Chief Executive Officer of the Digital India BHASHINI Division, and Prof. Bal Krishna Bal, Associate Dean of Kathmandu University.
The agreement was exchanged in the presence of S. Jaishankar and Shishir Khanal during bilateral engagements held in New Delhi.
The signing highlighted the commitment of both nations to deepen cooperation in emerging technologies, Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and inclusive digital transformation initiatives.
Focus On Multilingual AI And Language Preservation
Under the partnership, the two institutions will collaborate on developing high-quality Nepali language datasets, speech corpora and multilingual AI resources.
The initiative will focus on technologies such as:
- Speech-to-text systems
- Text-to-speech solutions
- Machine translation tools
- Multilingual conversational AI applications
Additionally, the collaboration aims to preserve and digitise linguistic and literary heritage, particularly for low-resource and underrepresented languages across the India-Nepal region.
By creating digital resources for these languages, the project seeks to ensure that communities facing the risk of digital exclusion can access AI-powered services in their native languages.
Expanding Digital Public Services
Through BHASHINI’s open and interoperable language technology ecosystem, the collaboration will support Nepal’s efforts to deliver digital public services in citizens’ preferred languages.
The initiative is expected to reduce language, literacy and digital accessibility barriers, particularly for underserved populations. As a result, more citizens could gain easier access to government services and digital platforms.
The partnership also includes plans for joint research projects, training programmes, capacity-building initiatives and pilot deployments in Natural Language Processing (NLP), multilingual AI and Digital Public Infrastructure.
Universities, researchers, language experts and technology practitioners from both countries are expected to participate in these efforts.
New Opportunities For Education And Commerce
Beyond technology development, the partnership is expected to create broader economic and social benefits.
By enabling multilingual access to education, skills development, digital commerce and public services, the initiative could help students, entrepreneurs and professionals participate more effectively in both regional and global digital economies.
The project also aims to strengthen cultural and linguistic ties between India and Nepal while promoting greater inclusion through technology.
BHASHINI’s Growing Role In Digital Inclusion
Speaking on the occasion, Amitabh Nag said the collaboration represents an important step in extending inclusive language technology across South Asia. He noted that BHASHINI’s Digital Public Infrastructure model has the potential to improve digital access for millions of people while supporting multilingual AI development throughout the Global South.
Prof. Bal Krishna Bal highlighted the shared commitment of India and Nepal to using artificial intelligence for linguistic inclusion and social impact. He said the partnership seeks to ensure that linguistic diversity becomes an advantage rather than a barrier in the digital age.
The Digital India BHASHINI Division currently powers more than 800 government websites, processes over 15 million AI inferences daily and supports 36 Indian text languages, 23 Indian voice languages and 35 international languages. Through its National Hub for Language Technology, BHASHINI continues to expand multilingual digital access across governance, education and public services.
With inputs from PIB