Rajnath praises NDRF's post-quake work in Nepal

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday congratulated the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for its "exemplary work" in Nepal after the April 25 earthquake devastated the Himalayan country.

At a function here, the home minister said the governments of both the nations worked closely during the rescue and relief operation.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi monitored the situation along with Nepal's Ambassador in India Deep Kumar Upadhyay.

Rajnath Singh said he had seen the important role played by the NDRF first during the June 2014 landslide in Malin village of Maharashtra - in which over 150 people were killed - and subsequently in other rescue operations.

He also praised the role of NDRF teams in various other operations and mentioned that out of 16 people rescued in Nepal, 11 were rescued by the NDRF teams.

"Indian relief and rescue teams were the first to reach Nepal immediately to join hands with our friendly neighbour in their hour of need," he said.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, home secretary L.C. Goyal, defence secretary R.K. Mathur, additional secretaries of the ministries of external affairs and home, NDRF Director General O.P. Singh and senior officers from the Nepal embassy in India were also present at the function.