India Delivers Relief Material to Quake-Hit Nepal; Jaishankar Says PM's Neighbourhood First Policy in Action

India on Sunday delivered its first emergency relief assistance to Nepal where over 150 people lost their lives in an earthquake tragedy.

An Indian Air Force (IAF) C-130 J, a military transport aircraft carried over 11 tonnes of rescue and relief materials worth Rs 10 crore, along with a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to the earthquake-affected area near Nepalganj.

A statement from the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said that the emergency relief materials included tents, sleeping bags, blankets, tarpaulin sheets, essential medicines and medical equipment such as portable ventilators for the affected people.

Indian ambassador Naveen Srivastava delivered the relief materials to Nepal’s deputy prime minister and defence minister Purna Bahadur Khadka in the presence of Chief Minister of Karnali, Raj Kumar Sharma.

Sharing the update on the delivery of relief assistance, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Neighbourhood First policy is in action.

On Friday night, Nepal experienced a powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake hitting Indian states as well. The epicenter was in Jajarkot district, about 500km northwest of Kathmandu.

At least 157 people were killed and over 150 others injured on Friday night when an earthquake said to be the worst since 2015, struck western Nepal’s remote areas destroying hundreds of houses in the Himalayan country.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ held a Cabinet meeting to determine a special relief package for the survivors of the earthquake.

Nepal government on Saturday, said it is not in a hurry to seek foreign assistance for search and rescue operations and in the management of relief distribution and other logistics.

Local government officials informed that the situation was chaotic on Saturday morning due to inadequate means to deal with the disaster. Harischandra Sharma, assistant chief district officer in Jajarkot, said to the news agency PTI that the under-resourced and poorly equipped district hospital was struggling.

“The people have been compelled to live in the cold under the open sky after they lost their houses to the disaster. Supporting them with relief materials should be our major focus. We are working to this effect,” Sharma said.

(with inputs from PTI)