Old era of jingoism, equating Nepali nationalism with anti-Indianism, is over: Nepal Finance Minister

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Finance Minister of Nepal, Swarnim Wagle, speaks during an interview with The Hindu in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

A month after floods wrecked large areas in Nepal, its new government is intensifying efforts to support reconstruction. Nepal’s Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle, an economist and former UNDP official, made his first visit abroad to Delhi to discuss plans with the government, and will soon travel to meetings of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank to seek support for an estimated $5 billion recovery project. In an exclusive interview with The Hindu , Mr. Wagle said the new Balen Shah government in Nepal wants a “reset” with India, and a revision of old trade and connectivity projects, including the push for long-delayed overflight rights for Nepal airports, and managing difficult issues, such as the border dispute, in a “constructive” manner.

What is your estimate of the losses to Nepal from the Bhotekoshi river floods?

We have been able to do two very rapid assessments, one by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, which was set up in the immediate aftermath of the 2015 earthquake. Relying on government sources and government statistics, they came up with a figure of about $1.8 billion in direct damages and around $900 million in losses, but all that’s at replacement value. However, we are not going to replace what existed before, but rebuild for resilience in the future, and that’s going to be more costly. We are estimating $4.7-5 billion in reconstruction needs over the next three to five years.

How can India help? What specifically did you discuss during your visit to Delhi about projects that India can be involved in?

India has been very supportive, very proactive, even in reaching out to us, and we are keen to explore ways we can reset and renew Indo-Nepal ties. We have talked about some big signature projects or forms of assistance, which I think can be adapted to the reconstruction needs. After the 2015 earthquake, India had given us about $250 million of grant assistance, and $750 million as a Line of Credit. And [the late former External Affairs Minister] Ms. Sushma Swaraj was able to announce in Kathmandu a billion dollars worth of support, which was received very positively. Lines of Credit are more amenable to energy-related projects, and we are keen to borrow from India. In December last year (2025), there was an agreement that any subsequent Indian assistance in the form of a Line of Credit would be denominated in INR (Indian rupee), which is good for us, which is what we asked, and I think there are only a few countries to which India extends that facility. Some of those Lines of Credit would need to go into the rehabilitation of our energy infrastructure. Now, publicly built hydropower plants, transmission lines, and substations would ideally be addressed through concessional credit.