Kolkata: The Indian army has launched Operation Maitri in its efforts to help the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal overcome the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that rocked the country on Saturday afternoon.

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar said all resources are being mobilised at the earliest to help the country.

“Under the direction of the Prime Minister, we have more than willing to support Nepal. We have at present diverted three aircraft and five helicopters to carry National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team, doctors, food, water and medicine among others to Nepal,” Parrikar told Gulf News over the phone. The NDRF has dispatched 10 teams for its first major operation on foreign soil.

The Indian Army has sent a major-general to Nepal to oversee the rescue and relief efforts. Defence ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar told reporters in Delhi that 10 flights by military aircraft were carried out on Sunday. The aircraft carried water, food, army forward hospitals, engineering task forces, NDRF teams, medical personnel and equipment, blankets and tents. However, the mission has to be halted as fresh high intensity aftershocks were experience in both Nepal and Indian around noon.

“India has moved in [a] massive amount of rescue and relief material, equipment and specialists today,” Kar said.

The defence ministry has also put assets of the Indian army, air force and Border Roads Organisation on standby for relief operations. Officials inform that these assets can be airlifted to Nepal at short notice from airbases such as Hindon and Gorakhpur.

The air force’s heavy lift aircraft have also been pressed into service, including for surveillance missions and to bring back thousands Indian nationals stranded in Nepal. A C-130J Hercules that airlifted an NDRF team conducted aerial reconnaissance of roads damaged by the quake in Pokhara region, which is located close to the temblor’s epicentre. So far, 546 Indian nationals have been flown back in four flights from Kathmandu since Saturday night.

“Our country is in a moment of humanitarian crisis and we will require tremendous support and aid from all over the world,” Minendra Rijal Nepal’s Information and Broadcasting Minister told an Indian television urging the world to help.

“With India’s help, we have launched a massive rescue and rehabilitation action plan and lots more is needed to be done,” he added.

Earlier on Sunday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke Nepal’s president, Ram Baran Yadav, and Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and assured them of all support to his country in this hour of crisis. Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh is also in touch with his Nepalese counterpart to extend any help that the nation might need as part of search and rescue operations.

The country has also launched massive financial drive which will be required to rebuild Nepal which now looks like ruins post the massive earthquakes. Other humanitarian organisations from India are also on their way to help the rescue mission.

According to the Nepalese government, the death toll in Nepal at 2,152, with more than 5,000 injured. At least 700 were killed in the capital of Kathmandu. The toll from the quake though is expected to be much higher.

Help has also poured in from governments around the world, with the United States, European Union and Australia announcing they were sending in disaster response teams.