India offers five million dollars in aid to China

India today offered to send five million dollars in emergency supplies to China, where the official death toll from this weeks devastating earthquake has roughly touched 20,000.

New Delhi, May 15 : India today offered to send five million dollars in emergency supplies to China, where the official death toll from this week's devastating earthquake has roughly touched 20,000.

"Keeping in view India's close and good neighbourly ties with China, the Government of India has decided to offer assistance of five million dollars," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"This amount would be utilised for relief material including blankets, tents, sleeping bags, medicines," it said.

India's offer came as China accepted a Japanese rescue team with sniffer dogs to locate possible survivors buried for more than 72 hours under tonnes of rubble following Monday's 7.9-magnitude quake.

Meanwhile, China also said that over 50,000 people have likely died in the devastating earthquake that hit its southwest as time runs out to save survivors buried in the rubble of broken communities.

ANI