India has offered to deploy the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams with specialised equipment in flood-ravaged Nepal, but is awaiting clearance from Kathmandu even as it rapidly scales up humanitarian and technical assistance to its Himalayan neighbour.The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said India was ready to provide any further assistance required by Nepal for search, rescue and relief operations, as the disaster left hundreds dead or missing and hundreds of Indian nationals uncontactable.“We have also made specific offer to Nepal authorities to dispatch the NDRF teams along with their associated equipment that can help in ongoing search and rescue operations and bring relief assistance to people impacted by the tragedy. We await a response from the Government of Nepal on this front,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.The latest assistance came in the form of a third Indian flight carrying 10 tonnes of humanitarian supplies, which departed for Kathmandu on Friday. The aircraft also carried an 11-member team of doctors, paramedics and a reconnaissance team for tunnel rescue operations.External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the consignment included portable generator sets, dignity kits, food packets and water-purification tablets, adding that India continued to support Nepal’s ongoing relief and rescue efforts.India has sent the tunnel rescue team at Nepal’s request. The reconnaissance team being flown in will assess the ground situation and determine the equipment required for the operation.Besides, India has offered Bailey bridges and associated technical teams to restore connectivity in areas cut off by the floods. “One Bailey bridge is already in Nepal and can be deployed for relief efforts and connectivity efforts,” Jaiswal said.With the third consignment, India has now dispatched around 60 tonnes of humanitarian assistance to Nepal in three days.The first aircraft left on August 26 with 10 tonnes of relief material, including temporary shelters, blankets, hygiene kits, solar lamps and medicines. The second, which departed on August 27, carried 37.5 tonnes of tents, blankets, hygiene kits, solar lamps, dewatering pumps, kitchen sets, generators, medicines and food items.India is simultaneously working to trace and evacuate its nationals caught in the disaster. The MEA has said 320 Indian nationals remain uncontactable or missing, while around 100 persons of Indian origin holding other nationalities also remain uncontactable.So far, 21 tourists from Tamil Nadu rescued from the affected areas have returned to Delhi, while 63 Indians working at the Trishuli-I hydropower project were rescued earlier.Jaiswal said India was arranging the return of those rescued and maintaining round-the-clock coordination through its control rooms in New Delhi, Kathmandu and Beijing.Asked whether any Indian bodies had been recovered, Jaiswal said there was still no clarity on the death toll among Indian nationals and that those currently unaccounted for remained classified as missing.On the possibility of direct financial assistance to Nepal, the MEA said India was currently extending support through humanitarian aid, technical assistance, medical personnel and rescue teams rather than announcing a separate financial package.India, he said, remained ready to extend “any other assistance” required by the Nepalese authorities as rescue and relief operations continued.