India sending 45-member search and rescue team to Japan

India is sending a 45-member search and rescue team today to be deployed in quake and tsunami ravaged regions of Japan. The team will be deployed at Rifu-cho in Miyagi prefecture, 365 km from Tokyo.

India is a sending a 45-member search and rescue team on Friday to be deployed in quake and tsunami ravaged regions of Japan.

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This will be the first international assignment of the National Disaster Response Force, which was constituted in 2005 and is made up of eight battalions of central paramilitary forces.

"Search n Res team leaves tmrw evening - 45 members. Were on standby," Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said on her twitter account Thursday.

The team will be deployed at Rifu-cho in Miyagi prefecture, 365 km from Tokyo. Miyagi was one of the worst affected in the March 11 tragedy that has killed over 9,000 people.

India had earlier sent a plane-load of blankets, followed by 10,000 litres of drinking water to meet shortages.

According to MEA officials, India may also be sending packets of high-nutrition biscuits to Japan in the coming days.

A day earlier, Prime Minster Manmohan Singh spoke to his Japanese counterpart Naoto Kan and reiterated India's offer of any assistance to the tsunami and quake hit country.