Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday confirmed India's support in searching for the missing AirAsia plane, urging the international community to join hands for a coordinated effort.
"We have to be part of international tea. There are mechanisms for such things and we will coordinate. We are ready to help but it has to be a coordinated international team and has to be coordinated effort," Parrikar said to mediapersons.
Earlier in the day, AirAsia Indonesia confirmed that flight QZ8501, travelling from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore, had lost contact with the air traffic control (ATC) at 7:24 am (Surabaya local time).
The Indian Navy has been put on standby for search and rescue operations. According to reports, the navy has kept three ships and one Boeing P8-I fixed-wing aircraft ready for service.
A statement released by AirAsia stated that the nationalities of passengers and crew onboard include one from Singapore, one from Malaysia, three from South Korea and 157 Indonesians.