Significant portion of existing structures world wide are made of brick masonry units. Earthquakes have shown repeatedly the seismic vulnerability of existing masonry structures. The occurrences of significant damages to existing masonry structures during earthquakes have emphasized the urgent need to develop a simple, inexpensive and effective strengthening technique. A new strengthening/retrofitting technique involving external application of galvanized steel strips was experimentally investigated. The advantages of the proposed techniques include: simplicity, reduced architecture impact and cost effectiveness.It was observed that amount of steel reinforcement and meshing pattern of steel strips had significant effect on seismic performance and failure mode of masonry. In addition, the test results of retrofitted walls were also compared with strengthened walls. The energy absorption, ductility and stiffness degradation of retrofitted/strengthened wall panels was found quite better as compared to un-reinforced wall panel. The study is found useful for strengthening of existing buildings, masonry infill in the multistory buildings and masonry structures in seismic zone.