New Delhi, Delhi, India

Mozambique's President Filipe Nyusi has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for India's help in the aftermath of cyclone Idai that hit Africa's east coast in March this year. 

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Cyclone Idai, a category-4 tropical cyclone caused massive damage in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, killing more than a 1,000 people.

President Nyusi thanked PM Modi during a phone call on Tuesday and congratulated him on his re-election. The read out from the Ministry of External Affairs said, "President Nyusi thanked the Prime Minister for the timely assistance extended by the Indian Navy at the time". 

Prime Minister Modi conveyed his condolences to President Nyusi on the loss of life and property in the aftermath of the cyclone and said, "India will always stand with Mozambique in solidarity and partnership." PM Modi had visited the country in July 2016.

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India, as one of the first responders, had dispatched four of its naval ships- INS Sujatha, INS Shardul, INS Sarathi and INS Magar - to the port city of Beira to provide Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) to people impacted by the cyclone.

Indian Naval Ships (INS) provided relief material in the form of food, clothes and medicine to the affected people. More than 200 people were rescued by Indian naval crew and medical assistance was provided to more than 1,300 people. Indian Navy's helicopters evacuated several people and also dropped food and water packets in cyclone-affected areas. 

India has been extending humanitarian assistance to Mozambique and had provided 10 million dollars for food grains in 2017 after it suffered a food shortage as a result of natural calamities.

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Assistance was also being sent to Zimbabwe and Malawi, two other countries hit by the deadly cyclone. The cyclone has been ranked the third deadliest on record in the southern hemisphere after the 1892 Mauritius cyclone and the 1973 Flores cyclone.