Operation Maitri : In a press briefing, foreign secretary S Jaishankar said that rapid rescue & relief operation is the primary focus in Nepal.
Scaling up relief and rescue efforts in quake-hit Nepal that was named 'Operation Maitri', India on Sunday deployed two dozen military aircraft and choppers and was also undertaking a "big evacuation" through the road route.
As a top Indian official described the situation in the Himalayan nation as "very, very serious", nearly 1,000 trained personnel of the National Disaster Response Force(NDRF) were also pressed into service after Nepal was struck on Saturday by the worst earthquake in 80 years, killing over 2,350 people. A slew of steps were also taken for speedy evacuation of stranded tourists including goodwill visas to foreigners and mobilising buses and ambulances to bring them by road. Over 1,000 people have been flown from Nepal since Saturday.
