NEW DELHI: The government said on Thursday that India had received requests from neighbouring countries for assistance worth over a million dollars after the Saarc video conference on coronavirus . Officials said India had started sending protective gear and other equipment to Bhutan and the Maldives to prevent the spread of the virus.The government slammed Pakistan for raising Kashmir during the video conference, saying that Islamabad had "misused" the occasion as it was not a political platform but a humanitarian one.T he Saarc nations agreed on Sunday to jointly combat coronavirus as PM Narendra Modi proposed an emergency fund with an initial offer of $10 million from India. "I can announce that we are moving very fast on most of those proposals and announcements. On the emergency fund, it is already up and running. We have received many requests from other Saarc countries for assistance in the form of masks, shoe covers, etc," foreign ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said."The quantum of assistance, which has been requested (from India) so far, has crossed $1 million. Supplies to Bhutan and the Maldives have been dispatched. Requests from other Saarc countries are under various stages of process," he added.Dammu Ravi, additional secretary in the MEA and the coordinator for Covid-19, said foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla will participate in a video-conference to take forward the Saarc coronavirus initiative.Asked about Pakistan raising Kashmir, Kumar said, "We believe the platform was to bring countries of the region together to address the pandemic. This was not a political platform but a humanitarian one, and Pakistan misused it."During Sunday's video conference, Pakistan's state minister of health Zafar Mirza called for an immediate lifting of the "lockdown" in J&K meant to help contain the spread of the virus.Modi had also said that India was assembling a ra- pid response team of doctors and specialists, along with testing kits and other equipment. They will be on standby, to be placed at the Saarc leaders' disposal if required, he had told the participants in the conference.