India, Aug. 29 -- Nepal has decided to keep foreign search-and-rescue teams away from its flood-ravaged areas, even as India, China and several other countries have offered personnel and specialised equipment to help locate hundreds of missing people.

The decision is striking because the disaster has also affected Nationals of several countries. As many as over 517 foreign nationals are still reported missing, including citizens of India, China, the US, Malaysia, Ukraine, the UK, Australia and Canada.

Kathmandu, however, believes the immediate rescue effort can be handled by its own security forces. The Nepalese Government's position is not a rejection of international assistance. Rather, it is an attempt to ensure that the rescue opera...