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India Says No to Outside Tsunami Relief
By BETH DUFF-BROWN
NEW DELHI (AP) - As the United States and other nations pour in aid to tsunami-buffeted Asian nations, India takes its traditional stance, saying thanks, but no thanks.
India, a founder of the Nonaligned Movement, typically proclaims it is capable of handling its own problems, politely telling allies and rivals alike to butt out. That message was conveyed to President Bush when he called, India's prime minister said Thursday.
``If and when we need their help, we will inform them,'' Manmohan Singh said. ``Several countries have offered assistance to us. The president of the United States spoke to me; several other countries' statesmen have also spoken to me.
``I have told them that, as of now, we feel we have adequate resources to meet the challenge.''
India's refusal does not include U.N. agencies and nongovernment organizations already working in the region.
Other Asian nations - including neighboring Sri Lanka, Thailand and the worst-hit, Indonesia - are welcoming foreign troops and international relief agencies after Sunday's tsunami killed more than 117,000 people in 11 nations.
The World Bank pledged $250 million for victims in southern and southeastern Asia, bringing the total amount of relief money pledged by the international community to close to half a billion dollars, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Thursday.
``Governments have donated and they have indicated to me that they will do more,'' Annan said in New York. ``I am satisfied with the response so far. The only thing I want to stress is that we are in this for the long term.''
The disaster is ``so huge that not one country or agency can deal with it alone,'' he said.
In Sri Lanka, the island nation off the southern tip of India, Western health officials - including a 30-person team comprised of U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy personnel - headed to devastated areas Thursday after officials warned about possible disease outbreaks among the 1 million people seeking shelter in crowded refugee centers.
``Our biggest battle and fear now is to prevent an epidemic from breaking out,'' Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said. ``Clean water and sanitation is our main concern.''
Sunday's towering tsunami killed more than 27,000 people in Sri Lanka, according to official tolls, and thousands more people remain missing.
In Galle, where more than 4,000 people were killed, a German team helped set up water plants Thursday while a Finnish team helped set up mobile clinics.
A U.S. Air Force plane arrived in the capital of Colombo, bringing 26 medical specialists from the Army, Marines and Air Force, which form part of the Pacific Fleet Command.
``Our job is called disaster relief assessment and we'll do that in concert with the Embassy, to try to get a handle on the magnitude of the problem,'' Col. Thomas Collins said.
Even as India declined foreign aid, thousands went hungry in southern Tamil Nadu state as relief workers fled following a false warning that another tsunami was approaching.
In Nagappattinam, vehicles transporting supplies turned around after New Delhi relied on bad information from a little-known U.S. operation and caused a panic along the southern coast. Thousands of survivors took no chances, with more than half of the town's 110,000 people fleeing by late afternoon.
For those who stayed behind in relief camps, there was no food.
Bush spoke to Singh on Wednesday to discuss the establishment of a group in which the United States, Japan, Australia and India would coordinate relief assistance to affected countries, said David Kennedy, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.
Singh welcomed the statement but did not commit to the proposal.
``If more countries want to join, that can also be considered,'' Singh said Thursday.
India may be pressured to accept outside help. It only took several days to let in foreign search and rescue teams after the January 2001 earthquake in western India, a 7.9 magnitude temblor that killed 13,000 people and caused an estimated $4.5 billion in damage.
In Thailand, an air base used by U.S. B-52 bombers during the Vietnam War is becoming a hub for a U.S. military-led relief effort that will stretch along the Indian Ocean.
American planes already have delivered 1,400 body bags to southern islands in Thailand, where Interior Minister Bhokin Balakula said more than 3,500 bodies have been found. Rescue and forensic teams from Australia, Japan, Germany, Israel and other nations fanned out across Thailand trying to find survivors and identify rapidly decomposing corpses.
``We have to have hope that we'll find somebody,'' said Ulf Langemeier, head of a German team that combed a wrecked resort with three body-detecting dogs under huge flood lamps early Thursday.
There likely will be up to 1,000 U.S. military personnel arriving in Thailand in the next week, Lt. Col. Scott Elder said.
In Indonesia, where nearly 80,000 people have been declared dead, pilots struggled to drop food into cliff-rimmed villages along the ravaged coast of Sumatra, where towns strewn with bloating corpses remained isolated for a fifth day.
Government institutions have ceased to function and basic supplies such as fuel have almost run out, forcing even ambulances to ration gasoline.
``Everything here has collapsed,'' said Brig. Gen. Achmad Hiayat, surgeon general of Indonesia's Armed Forces. ``Even the government has collapsed. The hospitals, medical services are in disarray.''
India Says No to Outside Tsunami Relief
By BETH DUFF-BROWN
NEW DELHI (AP) - As the United States and other nations pour in aid to tsunami-buffeted Asian nations, India takes its traditional stance, saying thanks, but no thanks.
India, a founder of the Nonaligned Movement, typically proclaims it is capable of handling its own problems, politely telling allies and rivals alike to butt out. That message was conveyed to President Bush when he called, India's prime minister said Thursday.
``If and when we need their help, we will inform them,'' Manmohan Singh said. ``Several countries have offered assistance to us. The president of the United States spoke to me; several other countries' statesmen have also spoken to me.
``I have told them that, as of now, we feel we have adequate resources to meet the challenge.''
India's refusal does not include U.N. agencies and nongovernment organizations already working in the region.
Other Asian nations - including neighboring Sri Lanka, Thailand and the worst-hit, Indonesia - are welcoming foreign troops and international relief agencies after Sunday's tsunami killed more than 117,000 people in 11 nations.
The World Bank pledged $250 million for victims in southern and southeastern Asia, bringing the total amount of relief money pledged by the international community to close to half a billion dollars, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Thursday.
``Governments have donated and they have indicated to me that they will do more,'' Annan said in New York. ``I am satisfied with the response so far. The only thing I want to stress is that we are in this for the long term.''
The disaster is ``so huge that not one country or agency can deal with it alone,'' he said.
In Sri Lanka, the island nation off the southern tip of India, Western health officials - including a 30-person team comprised of U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy personnel - headed to devastated areas Thursday after officials warned about possible disease outbreaks among the 1 million people seeking shelter in crowded refugee centers.
``Our biggest battle and fear now is to prevent an epidemic from breaking out,'' Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said. ``Clean water and sanitation is our main concern.''
Sunday's towering tsunami killed more than 27,000 people in Sri Lanka, according to official tolls, and thousands more people remain missing.
In Galle, where more than 4,000 people were killed, a German team helped set up water plants Thursday while a Finnish team helped set up mobile clinics.
A U.S. Air Force plane arrived in the capital of Colombo, bringing 26 medical specialists from the Army, Marines and Air Force, which form part of the Pacific Fleet Command.
``Our job is called disaster relief assessment and we'll do that in concert with the Embassy, to try to get a handle on the magnitude of the problem,'' Col. Thomas Collins said.
Even as India declined foreign aid, thousands went hungry in southern Tamil Nadu state as relief workers fled following a false warning that another tsunami was approaching.
In Nagappattinam, vehicles transporting supplies turned around after New Delhi relied on bad information from a little-known U.S. operation and caused a panic along the southern coast. Thousands of survivors took no chances, with more than half of the town's 110,000 people fleeing by late afternoon.
For those who stayed behind in relief camps, there was no food.
Bush spoke to Singh on Wednesday to discuss the establishment of a group in which the United States, Japan, Australia and India would coordinate relief assistance to affected countries, said David Kennedy, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.
Singh welcomed the statement but did not commit to the proposal.
``If more countries want to join, that can also be considered,'' Singh said Thursday.
India may be pressured to accept outside help. It only took several days to let in foreign search and rescue teams after the January 2001 earthquake in western India, a 7.9 magnitude temblor that killed 13,000 people and caused an estimated $4.5 billion in damage.
In Thailand, an air base used by U.S. B-52 bombers during the Vietnam War is becoming a hub for a U.S. military-led relief effort that will stretch along the Indian Ocean.
American planes already have delivered 1,400 body bags to southern islands in Thailand, where Interior Minister Bhokin Balakula said more than 3,500 bodies have been found. Rescue and forensic teams from Australia, Japan, Germany, Israel and other nations fanned out across Thailand trying to find survivors and identify rapidly decomposing corpses.
``We have to have hope that we'll find somebody,'' said Ulf Langemeier, head of a German team that combed a wrecked resort with three body-detecting dogs under huge flood lamps early Thursday.
There likely will be up to 1,000 U.S. military personnel arriving in Thailand in the next week, Lt. Col. Scott Elder said.
In Indonesia, where nearly 80,000 people have been declared dead, pilots struggled to drop food into cliff-rimmed villages along the ravaged coast of Sumatra, where towns strewn with bloating corpses remained isolated for a fifth day.
Government institutions have ceased to function and basic supplies such as fuel have almost run out, forcing even ambulances to ration gasoline.
``Everything here has collapsed,'' said Brig. Gen. Achmad Hiayat, surgeon general of Indonesia's Armed Forces. ``Even the government has collapsed. The hospitals, medical services are in disarray.''