NEW DELHI: India has emerged as the first responder to the needs of its neighbours in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, deploying quick-response medical teams and providing essential medical supplies , even as China has yet to despatch any assistance to the countries in the region.India has sent medical teams to the Maldives and Nepal, ET has learnt. Also, medical supplies ranging from testing kits to ventilators and medicines are being despatched to neighbouring countries, as they battle to contain the coronavirus outbreak.Pakistan has not sought any assistance from India and instead tried to involve China to get help during this crisis. But Beijing has yet to respond despite Pakistan’s President paying a solidarity visit to the Chinese capital earlier this week.The Maldives, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have sought support under the Saarc Emergency Fund for containing Covid-19 and its impact. India has also assured support to the Seychelles.The supplies, made over the past five days, are worth about $1 million, out of the $10 million India has allotted for the emergency fund, ET has learnt. Indian Embassies in those countries are coordinating the efforts by consulting local governments and under the guidance of foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.Nepal and Bhutan have announced contributions to SAARC COVID-19 emergency fund. Nepal will extend one million usd and Bhutan will extend USD 100,000 to the fund.“India was quickly out of the block and planned supplies immediately after the video summit (among Saarc nations) even as Pakistan politicised the effort,” a top source told ET. The foreign ministry has a team of 75 officials working at its Covid cell in the headquarters.Supplies to Bhutan and the Maldives have already been despatched and requests from other Saarc countries are under various stages of progress.In the Maldives, India supplied 317 cartons weighing over 5.5 tonnes of essential medicines. A rapid response team with testing equipment will soon be sent to Nepal.To Bhutan, India has supplied surgical masks, shoe covers, hand sanitisers, digital thermometers, forehead sensor, disposable gloves, disposable surgical caps, surgical hoods, gowns, fumigation system, glycerine, glutaraldehyde solution, coveralls, safety goggles and medicines.India is sending surgical masks, gloves and sodium hydrochloride solution to Afghanistan, and surgical masks, shoe covers, hand sanitisers, disposable gloves and disposable surgical caps to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.New Delhi has assembled a rapid response team of doctors and specialists, along with testing kits and other equipment, which will be on stand-by to be placed at the disposal of the countries, if required.Delhi has also offered to arrange for online training capsules for the emergency response teams of the neighbouring countries and sharing of the software behind India's Integrated Disease Surveillance Portal to help trace possible virus carriers and the people they contacted.The Indian Prime Minister at the video meet had suggested that existing mechanisms like the Saarc Disaster Management Centre be used to pool in best practices as also the creation of a common research platform to coordinate research on controlling epidemic diseases within the South Asian region.