New Delhi: Nepal declined requests from India and other countries to deploy specialised search-and-rescue teams amid the Bhote Koshi flash floods, stating that its own security forces are capable of handling the operation. The death toll has now risen to 469, according to police.
The decision was based on recommendations from the Nepali Army and police, which concluded that the country’s own security agencies had the personnel and capacity to conduct the search and rescue operation, Kathmandu Post reported.
The government also cited its experience after the devastating 2015 earthquake, when the arrival of large numbers of foreign search-and-rescue teams created significant coordination and management problems, including competition among countries seeking to participate in the relief effort.
Rather than accepting foreign rescue teams, Nepal is asking countries wishing to help to provide financial assistance through a centralised mechanism. Officials said additional international support would be sought during the rehabilitation and reconstruction phases, the report stated.
Apart from India, China, the US, Britain, Japan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh had offered to send search and rescue teams.
India had specifically asked Nepal to allow its National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to enter the country after hundreds of Indian nationals were reported missing or stranded. The request was declined.
At least 288 Indian nationals remain missing in Nepal following the floods Wednesday, while another 200 Indian nationals were left stranded on the Chinese side of the border as they were making the pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said at a press briefing Thursday.
India dispatched 10 tonnes of humanitarian assistance and essential medicines to the Himalayan nation Wednesday. A second flight carrying 37.5 tonnes of aide was sent Thursday, said Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said Wednesday.
Nepal Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has instructed senior ministry officials to maintain contact with foreign governments and provide regular updates about their missing nationals. Nepal’s diplomatic missions abroad have also been directed to seek financial assistance through the the nation’s Prime Minister Relief Fund.
The United States, Britain and the World Bank have announced financial assistance, while the Asian Development Bank has indicated that it is prepared to support Nepal beyond the immediate emergency.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was prepared to provide humanitarian assistance to Nepal.
Britain’s foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, spoke to Khanal by telephone, expressing the British government’s solidarity with Nepal and seeking an update on rescue operations, including efforts to locate missing British citizens.
The Nepal Tourism Board said Thursday night that 667 tourists and travellers, including 127 Nepali citizens, remained missing in areas affected by the flooding.
(Edited by Niyati Kothiyal)
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