India sent flood aid to Nepal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah on Wednesday after a flash flood tore through Rasuwa, near the Tibet border.

Modi offered "all possible humanitarian assistance." External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said India dispatched 10 tonnes of HADR aid and medicines. Sources told The Indian Express an IAF C-130J carried temporary shelters, blankets, hygiene kits, solar lamps and medicines.

Nepal's Tourism Board listed about 133 Indian nationals among hundreds missing or out of contact. Many were tourists or Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims. Others worked at hydropower sites along the Trishuli. The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu put out helplines and said it was coordinating rescue with Nepali authorities. The Embassy in Beijing issued contacts for Indians stranded on the Chinese side of the border.

Flood alerts went out in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh as water moves toward the Gandak. Extra NDRF teams were sent to West Champaran, Muzaffarpur and Kushinagar. Officials said nine NDRF teams were in Bihar and eleven in Uttar Pradesh, with more on standby.

This is both a neighbour crisis and an Indian missing-persons story.

Families in several states are waiting on names. Downstream districts need to watch the river for days, not hours. The aid flight is the visible half. The harder work is locating Indians still unaccounted for across two borders.

Rescue continues in Rasuwa and Nuwakot. Indian missions will keep updating missing lists. Bihar and UP will watch river gauges through the week.