KATHMANDU: India pledged $1 billion for earthquake reconstruction in Nepal on Thursday, with a quarter of the amount in the form of grants, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj told a donor conference also attended by China.

Swaraj said the $1 billion was over and above India's existing aid pledges to Nepal.

"This takes our total assistance to Nepal over the next five years to $2 billion US dollars," she said.

Read: Death toll in Nepal quake passes 3,700

The massive quake ripped across the Himalayan nation in April killing more than 4,000, leaving tens of thousands shell-shocked and sleeping in streets.

The earthquake was the worst to hit the South Asian nation in more than 80 years.

It destroyed swaths of the oldest neighborhoods of Kathmandu and was strong enough to be felt all across parts of India, Bangladesh, China's region of Tibet and Pakistan.

Nepal's worst recorded earthquake in 1934 measured 8.0 and all but destroyed the cities of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan.

The first nations to respond were Nepal's neighbors - India, China and Pakistan, all of which have been jockeying for influence over the landlocked nation.

Nepal remains closest to India, with which it shares deep political, cultural and religious ties.

Take a look: A friend in need: China, India turn on aid diplomacy in Nepal

"India and China are sending specialised relief personnel, and they are working very hard," Nepal's Foreign Minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, had said in an interview with the Indian Express newspaper in April, balancing his praise. He said Nepal had divided areas between China and India as they brought aid, but gave no details.

Modi, whose own country was also hit by the earthquake, was on air within hours of the disaster, and had since promised to "wipe the tears of every Nepali". Indian television had devoted hours of footage to Indian planes, trucks and buses delivering aid.