Nepal envoy lauds India's quake-linked relief efforts

Nepal's Ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay on Tuesday expressed his gratitude for the love and support extended by the Indian people and lauded New Delhi's timely relief efforts.

"I would like to thank the government and the people of India for the love and support we are getting from the very beginning of this (earthquake) incident. I was lucky enough to get calls from Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and then from Home Minister Rajnathji, maybe an hour later," said Ambassador Updahyay.

"Chief Minister Kejriwal also spoke to me, and he, in very kind words, paid his homage for this devastation, and fully, the Government of India, people of India and the Delhi Government, the people in Delhi also want to support us," he added.

India is doing everything possible to maximise relief and minimise the tribulations faced by the neighbouring nation.

More than 700 disaster relief experts drawn from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed by India for "Operation Maitri".

Relief material weighing 8,200 kilograms were distributed by choppers and the Indian Air Force.

India has also sent a team of senior officials from the ministries of home, defence, external affairs and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to co-ordinate rescue and relief operations.

Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has warned that the death toll from the massive earthquake could cross 10,000, and appealed for greater international relief and rehabilitation assistance.