India expresses deep sympathies to tsunami-hit Indonesia, assures all help

India on Saturday expressed deep sympathies to the people and government of Indonesia, and assured all help to the southeast Asian nation where a tsunami triggered by a strong earthquake has killed nearly 400 people.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, in her address to the General Debate of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly here, said the world has received very unfortunate news about Indonesia which has been hit by a quake and a tsunami together.

"This morning we received very unfortunate news. Indonesia has been hit by a quake and a tsunami disasters together," she said.

"On behalf of India, I, from this stage, express deep sympathies to the people and government of Indonesia. I assure all help from India to Indonesia to combat the disasters," Swaraj said here.

On Friday, a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, killing more than 380 people.

The country's national disaster agency put the official death toll at 384, all of them in the tsunami-struck city of Palu. The authorities have warned that the toll may rise.