Following the massive earthquake that struck Türkiye and Syria on 6 February 2023, India launched Operation Dost to provide urgent support in terms of search and rescue (SAR) efforts as well as medical assistance. Since then, India has been able to send more than 250 personnel, specialized equipment and other relief material amounting to more than 135 tons to Türkiye on 7 C-17 IAF aircrafts.
The first C-17 IAF aircraft with a specialized SAR team left for Türkiye within hours of a request of assistance being received. These include three self-sustained teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) numbering more than 150 specially trained personnel, along with dog squads, specialized equipment, vehicles and supplies. Their equipment allows for detection, location, access and extrication of people trapped under collapsed structures.
India has sent personnel and equipment to set up a 30-bed self-sustained field hospital of the Indian Army. This includes a team of 99 specially trained personnel, with essential medicines, advanced equipment, vehicles and ambulances. The hospital will provide for a fully functional Operation Theatre, and facilities such as X-ray, and ventilators.
The deployment of teams in Türkiye is being coordinated with the local authorities through the Indian Embassy, which has set up a Camp Office at Adana. The NDRF teams are providing support in rescue operations at Gaziantep while the medical team is setting up the Field Hospital in Iskenderun.
The Indian Embassy is also ascertaining the well-being of Indian nationals in the affected region, particularly in Adana, Gaziantep, Malatya and Kahramanmaras provinces of Türkiye, which have been the most affected due to the earthquake. The Embassy has also set up a Help Desk. Although road conditions, inclement weather and the ongoing rescue operations limit options, Indian officials are reaching out to some ten Indian nationals who are reportedly stranded.
More than six tons of emergency relief assistance has been delivered through a C130J IAF aircraft to Damascus, Syria. The consignment includes medicines for emergency use, fluids for hydration, protective gear, general use medicines and medical equipment like ECG machine, and patient monitors.
Operation Dost is India’s latest expression of being a first responder, a net security provider, and a country whose Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) response is quick and available to countries not only in the neighboring region, but also beyond.
