The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other organisations working in Operation Dost in Turkey interacted with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. According to Al Jazeera, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that slammed the southeast of Turkey and neighbouring Syria on February 6 resulted in the deaths of more than 45,000 people, the eviction of more than a million people, and an estimated economic loss of billions of dollars.
India was one of the first nations to begin search and rescue operations in Syria and Turkey. In response to damaging earthquakes and aftershocks in the area, India launched Operation Dost to provide aid to Turkey and Syria.
Along with the Indian Army, the Indian Government supplied tonnes of relief supplies to Turkey and Syria as part of the Operation. In accordance with this, India deployed aid supplies, a mobile hospital, and specialised search and rescue teams to Turkey. Moreover, 250 Army personnel were stationed in Turkey and Syria’s most severely affected regions.
Together with Rambo and his colleagues (from the dog squad), specialised trucks, and other equipment, three self-sufficient teams of the NDRF, totaling more than 150 carefully trained personnel, also made it to Turkey. Specialized equipment and additional supplies weighing more than 135 tonnes also made it to Turkey.
Syria received aid from India in the form of portable ECG machines, patient monitors, and other critical medical supplies. When the medical team set up the field hospital in Iskenderun, the NDRF teams assisted in the rescue efforts at Gaziantep.
The medical, surgical, and emergency wards, the X-ray lab, and the medical supply store were the first services offered by the army field hospital in Iskenderun, Hatay, Turkey. When asked if it was appropriate to send aid to Syria when it was subject to US sanctions, the government responded that India adheres to the G-20 motto of “One Earth, One Family, One Future.”
