Nepal asks India and 33 other countries to pull out rescue teams
Reports said teams from Japan, Turkey, Ukrain, UK and Netherlands have begun to pull out.
The foreign ministry said on Monday that the Nepal government had asked countries to remove their "first response" teams as the focus is now on relief, rather than rescue.
"As such, Nepal has asked all rescue teams from 34 nations to withdraw. They now need rubble removal equipment and have asked India for help, an army engineering team will be going," the ministry has been quoted as saying.
India's National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has the largest presence in Nepal; 16 teams of nearly 50 personnel each are involved in the Herculean rescue efforts mounted after the April 25 earthquake that left more than 7,200 people dead, tens of thousands injured and scores of thousands homeless.
Nepal has given up hope of finding any more survivors, though its Prime Minister Sushil Koirala had said that the toll might to up to 15,000.
"In the disaster relief framework, there are standard operating procedures, clear cut directives, that you slowly leave and the state has the resilience to get back on its own feet," Nepal's Army Chief General Gaurav SJB Rana said in an interview to NDTV.
He dismissed speculation about India's "big brotherly presence," saying that India had shown that it is a "real friend" of Nepal.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
