Nepal and India advance proposal for structured digital innovation corridor

New Delhi — Senior policymakers, diplomats and technology leaders from Nepal and India convened at the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi to frame a Digital Innovation Corridor (DIC) that will deepen cooperation in digital public infrastructure, cybersecurity, fintech, artificial intelligence and startup investment.

The Nepal–India Tech Forum assembled government officials, regulators, investors and private-sector leaders in a bid to turn goodwill into structured collaboration. Participants underscored that Nepal’s growing technology ecosystem and India’s digital scale can only be harnessed through disciplined execution.

In his opening remarks, Dr. Shankar Sharma, Ambassador of Nepal to India, stressed that deeper digital cooperation is pivotal for the economic partnership between the two neighbours. Former Indian ambassador to Nepal, Manjeev Singh Puri, added that Nepal’s expanding pool of IT talent and enabling policy environment complement India’s digital infrastructure and market scale, creating a significant opportunity for technology-led integration.

Delivering the Forum’s theme presentation, Anjani Phuyal, CEO of Genese Solution, outlined a Digital Innovation Corridor built on three pillars: aligning cross-border payments and open-commerce systems, digital identity and consent frameworks, secure data exchange patterns and coordinated cloud modernisation; developing joint cybersecurity standards, shared resilience practices and a cyber trust compact; and creating structured pathways for Nepali startups to scale in India by linking venture capital networks and accelerators and facilitating corporate innovation partnerships. “Neighbours by geography, Nepal brings agility and engineering depth; India brings scale and institutional maturity,” he said. “If we align execution rather than just intent, we can create digital systems that are secure, interoperable and scalable across South Asia.”

To convert the proposal into action, Mr. Phuyal, who is an AWS Ambassador for the UK and Ireland, recommended launching a DPI Interoperability Lab, a Cyber Trust Compact and a Startup Landing Pad within the next 90 days, explaining that each pilot must have defined ownership, regulatory coordination, timelines and measurable success metrics. He argued that early execution will determine whether the corridor becomes an operational framework.

Forum participants acknowledged that disciplined execution and policy alignment will be critical for the corridor’s success. They identified collaboration opportunities in fintech integration, artificial intelligence governance, cloud resilience, talent mobility and harmonised data protection and digital trade. The Forum closed with a pledge to turn the corridor proposal into a concrete agenda and recognised that the partnership could serve as a model for other South Asian economies.