India pledged to send 25 tonnes of relief supplies, saying its neighbouring nuclear rival had accepted the offer of help following the weekend's massive South Asian earthquake.

Energy-rich Gulf states also offered emergency aid, with the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait giving 200 million dollars in assistance.

Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said in New Delhi: "The prime minister has directed that a consignment should be put together on an urgent basis and delivered to Pakistan."

A foreign ministry spokesman said the aid would be the first such shipment in a long time between the countries, nuclear-armed rivals that have fought two wars over disputed Kashmir, scene of some of the worst of the present devastation.

Pakistani officials said they feared as many as 40,000 people had been killed, most in the Pakistani sector of Kashmir. The death toll in the Indian sector of the disputed Himalayan region has topped 950, officials said.

The United States, Japan and the European Union were among the first to offer manpower and financial aid to Pakistan, India and Afghanistan following Saturday's quake.

International rescue teams with sniffer dogs and specialist equipment began arriving and setting up field hospitals.

But rescuers faced huge obstacles reaching the regions worst hit by the 7.6 Richter scale quake because the villages are high in forested slopes of the Himalaya, Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountain ranges.

Jan Egeland, UN coordinator of humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, said Pakistan had deployed its own substantial fleet of helicopters but the scale of the disaster required more choppers and small fixed-wing aircraft.

The United States flew eight heavy-lifting helicopters -- five large twin-rotor Chinooks and three smaller Black Hawks -- from Afghanistan into Pakistan. A large C-17 aircraft flew in food, water and blankets, the US military said.

Washington pledged up to 50 million dollars (41 million euros) in initial assistance for Pakistan.

"Pakistan is a friend, and the United States government and the people of the United States will help as best as we possibly can," President George W. Bush said of America's key ally in the US-declared "war on terror."

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Washington was also sending two disaster response teams in response to a request from President Pervez Musharraf for emergency food, water, drugs, transport and personnel.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan welcomed the international response and expressed "profound sadness" over the damage.

Abu Dhabi, Australia, Belgium, Britain, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Switzerland, South Korea, Sweden, and quake-prone Turkey were among countries that sent rescue workers, sniffer dogs, tents and equipment.

Afghanistan said it would send helicopters, medical teams and two tonnes of medicine.

Canada offered 17 million dollars in aid and said it was sending 15,000 blankets to Pakistan.

The EU Commission executive pledged 4.36 million dollars of aid, saying more could be agreed rapidly if needed.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer convened a special session of the North Atlantic Council to find out how the alliance could best help.

Islamabad had requested in particular rescue and cargo helicopters and other equipment such as tents, blankets and food.

De Hoop Scheffer noted that NATO already leads the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, "which is close to this horrific theater."

The international charity Islamic Relief launched a 10 million dollar appeal and its US branch reported a prompt response.

"We've raised 100,000 dollars online in less than 24 hours," spokesman Arif Shaikh told AFP.

Kuwait announced a 100-million-dollar package half as relief assistance and half to repair infrastructure, said a government statement.

"The cabinet expressed its warmest condolences and sympathy with the families of the victims and those affected by the earthquake," it said.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan ordered the allocation of 100 million dollars in emergency relief assistance to build homes for Pakistan's victims, according to state news agency WAM.

Khalifa also ordered UAE armed forces to set up makeshift hospitals in Pakistani areas hit by the earthquake to provide medical treatment and medicines for the victims.

Britons offered seven million pounds (10.2 million euros), including three million pounds collected from mosques, 2.9 million pounds by charities including Muslim Aid and Christian aid. Italy sent a military transport plane with 12 tonnes of relief supplies.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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