Huge Indian relief for Nepal

India, with more than 50 deaths in its own states in Saturday's Nepal earthquake, has established its status as the 'first responder' in the region.

The Modi government has rushed relief teams to Bihar, UP and West Bengal , but it has focussed its energies in helping Nepal out big-time.

Nearly 50 tonnes of relief material and more than 200 specialist personnel of the National Disaster Relief Force have flown in from an airbase near Delhi and started search-and-rescue operations in Nepal.

An Indian Major General JS Sandhu has flown into Kathmandu to work as the points-person between the Indian and Nepalese army to coordinate search and relief operations.

"After preliminary assessment, we will have more men, material and equipment coming in. We are already started flying in large quantities of safe drinking water for the camps as health could be an issue in the quake aftermath," Sandhu said.

Within hours of the earthquake, Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a high-level meeting attended by his cabinet ministers and top bureaucrats like National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishanker.

Jaishankar said Modi, who has made India’s relations with its neighbours his top foreign policy priority, has given Indian officials a “strong message to step forward” and help Nepal out of this huge crisis.

“Today’s Earthquake has made us all very sad,” a tweet from Modi’s official account said. “Nepal’s pain is our pain,” another tweet said.

The Indian premier spoke to Nepal’s President Ram Baran Yadav and Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, assuring them of “support and assistance during this tough time".

Modi has made two visits to Nepal in his first year in office, one for talks with the Nepalese government and another for a summit of South Asian countries. He made a very positive impact, says Nepalese commentator KC Sunil.

The Indian prime minister is looking to bolster his country’s leadership role at a time when China has made deep in-roads into countries such as Nepal and Sri Lanka.

India’s external affairs ministry says many aircrafts – including a C-130 Super Hercules and two C-17 Globemaster transports – have started flying into Nepal, carrying more than 200 specialised personnel of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) and a mobile hospital.

These huge aircrafts loaded with 15 tonnes of relief supplies, each including heavy earth moving equipment, will fly several sorties, Indian Air Force officials said.

PK Srivastava, who is leading the NDRF teams to Nepal, said they will focus on search and rescue operations first in Kathmandu valley and then in central Nepal where villages have been badly hit.

Several Indian mobile service providers have said calls between India and Nepal will not be charged for the next few days even as public service giant BSNL said calls will only be charged at local rates.

These giant aircrafts are involved in a two way operation—carrying relief personnel and material to Nepal and pulling out stranded Indians from the Himalayan country.

"After the huge pullout operation from Yemen, this will again prove that the government cares for its own people. This is a message going out across the country," said a top Indian official.

Helicopters were also pressed into service to help with rescue effort and the distribution of food to people rendered homeless in rain, the officials said.

Indian Foreign Secretary Jaishankar said more aircraft would fly to Nepal in the coming days carrying ready-to-eat meals, specialised engineering teams, tents and blankets. India will also be working to bring Indian nationals home from Nepal, he said.

Here again, India may do what it did in Yemen—help other friendly countries like Bangladesh pull out its own nationals.

Sapna Kumari, the manager of the Indian under-14 women football team playing a tournament in Kathmandu, told CNN-IBN that her team of 23 was stuck in a Kathmandu hotel.

The girls from Bangladesh are also there in the same hotel.

"The Indian embassy has told me they will out out all the girls if their managers agreed to it," Sapna told CNN-IBN.

In the past, Indian leaders have flown in relief or offered cash to neighbours hit by disasters.

But, Modi is sending a very different message—his government will do what it takes to help a neighbour out of a major crisis like this.

"In a way, this prepares his own system for handling a similar crisis back home if that was to happen. For Modi, disaster relief operations or crisis situations like Yemen provides an opportunity to his own people and others in the neighbourhood that his is a government with a difference," said a top BJP official.