India said Thursday it had offered aid worth US$25 million to Pakistan for relief and rebuilding areas ravaged by this month's deadly earthquake.

The Indian offer was made at a UN-sponsored meeting in Geneva on Wednesday called to raise funds to help Pakistan overcome the worst disaster in its history, an Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

"The government of Pakistan would be welcome to use this contribution for rebuilding homes and rehabilitating people, reconstructing the infrastructure and restoring essential services," spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters.

"It may also procure supplies of building material such as cement, steel and other items from India. Indian technology for prefabricated, earthquake-resistant shelters will also be made available to Pakistan," he said.

New Delhi's announcement came two days before officials of the two countries hold talks in Islamabad to discuss steps to open up Indian relief camps for Pakistani victims along the frontier in disputed Kashmir.

India has so far sent more than 100 tons of emergency supplies to Pakistan, where at least 54,000 people have been killed by the earthquake and many more have been made homeless. The October 8 earthquake also killed 1,300 people in India-controlled Kashmir.

The two countries have moved gingerly over proposals to conduct joint relief operations across the military ceasefire line, which divides Kashmir between them.

Both countries claim Kashmir in full but rule it in part. The dispute is at the heart of nearly 60 years of enmity between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Oxfam: Aid not enough

In contrast to India's aid, wealthy nations have done far from enough to help Pakistan to get through the disaster, said British charity Oxfam Thursday.

International aid pledges for quake-hit Pakistan are inadequate and may not save a single one of the survivors facing a cold and hungry winter, Oxfam said.

World donors at an emergency United Nations conference on Wednesday promised an additional US$580 million amid a race to deliver help to tens of thousands of injured or homeless survivors before bad weather closes in.

"Oxfam welcomes the funds announced at (Wednesday's) donor conference in Geneva but it already looks like the money pledged will fall far short of what is needed," the aid agency said in a statement.

"It appears that almost half of the money pledged is for longer-term reconstruction work which, although vital, won't save a single one of the thousands of lives currently hanging in the balance," it added.

"Of the remaining half of the pledges it is unclear how much of the money will be given to the UN appeal, how much of the money is really new and when the money will arrive."

The UN itself said it was unclear how much of the new pledges would go towards the world body's emergency appeal, which was increased from US$312 million to US$550 million before the meeting on Wednesday.

Some of the new pledges may be earmarked by governments for longer-term reconstruction, or other assistance, officials said.

The charity also called on the world community to learn lessons from the relief process and to set up and contribute to a new central emergency fund.

On Tuesday Oxfam said rich countries were giving little or nothing to the United Nations for earthquake relief efforts.

Oxfam named seven rich countries which have so far given nothing to the UN appeal in the wake of the October 8 earthquake Belgium, France, Austria, Finland, Greece, Portugal and Spain.

It also identified four that have given less than one-fifth of their fair share the United States (9 per cent), Italy (7 per cent), Germany (14 per cent) and Japan (17 per cent).

Source: China Daily