Myanmar destroyed Myanmar after a devastating earthquake, India started its relief and rescue efforts in the country under the banner ‘Operation Brahma’. On Saturday, the country deployed two naval ships and started deploying an army area hospital with 118 medical personnel to provide immediate assistance to the injured. The large -scale earthquake that destroyed Myanmar and neighboring Thailand killed over 1,600 people and caused widespread destruction.
Foreign Ministry (Mea) spokesman Randhir Jaiswal announced yesterday that two Indian naval ships carrying relief material were on the way to Myanmar, two to follow. The first ship took 10 tonnes of relief supply, set the sail in the early hours of Saturday, while the second ship left later in the afternoon. He is expected to reach Yangon by 31 March.
Additional two ships posted in Shri Vijaya Puram under Andaman and Nicobar Command will follow in the coming days to strengthen India’s support efforts.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar provided updates on social media, saying, “INS Satpura and Ins Savitri are taking 40 tons of humanitarian aid and leading to the port of the port.”
The Air Force is also actively engaged in relief supply and deployment of personnel. Mr. Jaiswal confirmed that several aircraft have been deployed under Operation Brahma. The first aircraft to carry 15 tonnes of relief material left Hindon Air Force Base at 3 am in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, reached Yangon by 8 am. The Indian Ambassador at Myanmar Abhay Thakur handed over the supply, blankets, food packets and necessary medicines to the Chief Minister of the Yangon.
Two more aircraft, carrying and rescue teams, left for Myanmar, part of the deployment of the 118 -member Army Field Hospital unit with additional two aircraft. This elite medical team of Shatrujit Brigade Medical Responsctors of the Indian Army will provide advanced medical and surgical care, led by Lieutenant Colonel Jagneet Gill. They will set up a 60-bed medical treatment center in the rhetoric to handle cases of trauma, emergency surgery and general medical requirements.
India has also sent an 80-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team equipped with expert search and rescue equipment, including concrete cutters, drill machines and canine squads. The team will be deployed in Naye Pai Taw to assist the local authorities in finding the remaining people under the rubble.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Meanmar’s military leader General Min Aung Hling, expressed condolences and assured full support. PM Modi said on social media, “As a close friend and neighbor, India stands in solidarity with the people of Myanmar in this difficult hour.”
Mr. Jaiswal reiterated India’s commitment to being a “first respondent” for natural disasters in the region, citing previous aid missions like ‘Operation Dosti’ in Turkey and Syria. “When we call Vasudhiv Kutumbakam, we mean it, and we prove it through action,” He said, referring to India’s ‘The World is One Family’.
