KATHMANDU: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said his government would fully support Nepal’s reconstruction drive in the aftermath of the earthquake, even if he is unable to attend the international donors’ conference being held in Kathmandu on June 25.

The Indian PM made the statement during a meeting with Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat in the Indian capital of New Delhi today.

During the meeting, Indian Premier Modi said he would try to personally attend the donors’ conference. “But if he is not able to, he’d send a senior minister to the conference,” says a statement issued today by the Ministry of Finance.

Modi has, however, assured that his government would not make any compromise in extending support to Nepal even if he is not able to attend the conference himself.

Nepal is hosting the International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction with a theme ‘Towards Resilience’ to share the findings of the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) and seek financial support from the international community to rebuild parts of the country ravaged by the devastating earthquake of April 25 and subsequent aftershocks.

Nepal has so far sent invitations to around 24 countries and around 36 multilateral lending institutions, UN agencies and eminent international personalities.

In this regard, Finance Minister Mahat left for New Delhi on Wednesday to deliver Prime Minister Sushil Koirala’s invitation to Modi to attend the conference.

During today’s meeting, Mahat apprised Modi about the damage caused by the quake and the cost of reconstruction. He also said Modi’s presence in the conference would send a positive message and help Nepal mobilise adequate financial resources to rebuild the country.

Mahat also expressed his gratitude to the Indian government for helping conduct search, rescue and relief operations in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Earlier, Mahat met with Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj.