U.S., Others Step Up For Quake Aid

As eight U.S. military helicopters arrived in Islamabad with provisions and Washington pledged up to $50 million in relief, Pakistan on Monday thanked the international community for sending rescue teams and relief goods to help survivors of a 7.6-magnitude quake that killed thousands.

"We are overwhelmed by the international community's response to our appeal for the help for Saturday's quake victims," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said at a news conference.

In a turnaround Monday, India's foreign ministry said it would send aid to Pakistan, and Pakistan said it would accept that aid. The two countries have a long-standing feud over the Kashmir province.

"'Any port in a storm' is a maxim in the law as well as in life," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk, "and it is because of the dimension of this disaster that Pakistan has accepted help from its long-time adversary, India.

"Sometimes assistance in times of trouble can actually lead to better relations," said Falk.

Many other countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Japan, China, Germany and Russia, have sent experts, food, medicines and other relief supplies to Pakistan.

Kuwait on Monday pledged $100 million to help the victims of the earthquake, half in immediate relief and half to finance infrastructure repairs under the supervision of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, a government organization in the small oil-rich Persian Gulf state.

A military plane took off Monday from Spain with emergency doctors, firefighters and medical supplies to help deal with the aftermath of the South-Asian earthquake that has killed at least 20,000 people.

The first cargo plane with U.S. aid arrived Monday from Afghanistan, reports CBS News correspondent Richard Roth. America is also sending the helicopters that Pakistan has urgently requested.

"Pakistan is one of our closest allies in the war on terror and we want to help them in this time of crisis," said Sgt. Marina Evans, a U.S. military spokeswoman in Kabul. "The terrorists make us out as the infidels, but this is not true, and we hope this mission will show that."

The U.S. ambassador to Pakistan said Monday that the United States will provide up to $50 million for earthquake relief and reconstruction in Pakistan.

"We have under way the beginning of a very major relief effort," Ambassador Ryan Crocker said. "We have a close partnership, a long term strategic relationship with Pakistan, and that means when crisis hits an ally, another ally steps forward."

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf had appealed for international aid Sunday in response to the earthquake that devastated the country's mountainous northeast, calling especially for cargo helicopters to bypass roads blocked by mudslides.