In a gesture of solidarity with Pakistan, India will Tuesday send a planeload of emergency relief supplies for victims of the massive earthquake in the neighboring country.

"We plan to send (various) relief items, including tents, plastic sheets, mattresses, blankets, food items, medicines and medical supplies in a transport plane on Tuesday. It should reach Pakistan latest by Tuesday evening," Indo-Asian News Service quoted India's Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran as saying Monday.

The decision to send 25 tones of relief materials to Pakistan was taken at a meeting here Monday between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan's High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Kahn.

This is probably the first time an Indian plane will carry relief materials to Pakistan.

India also offered to help Pakistan in accessing quake-hit areas close to the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and said it was allowing Pakistani helicopters to fly closer to the ceasefire line than was permitted by bilateral agreements.

Saran said that Indian Prime Minister had directed that a consignment of (relief) items should be put together on an urgent basis and delivered to Pakistan at the earliest.

Saturday's quake, which measured 7.6 on the Richter scale, devastated the Indian and Pakistani parts of Kashmir. While the death toll on the Pakistani side was put at over 20,000, it mounted to 850 in Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir Monday.

Pakistan had sent relief materials for victims of the massive quake that hit India's Gujarat state in 2001.

Source: Xinhua