Nay Pyi Taw/New Delhi, Mar 31 (UNI) India’s 80-member NDRF search and rescue team has been deployed in over a dozen affected sites in quake-hit Mandalay since March 30, while the Indian Army medical team has set up a field hospital at the old airport in Mandalay, the Indian Embassy in Yangon said today.
Giving an update on Operation Brahma, the Indian Embassy said that two Indian naval ships INS Satpura and INS Savitri, carrying 31 tonnes and 19 tonnes of HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief) arrived in Yangon today. The aid was immediately handed over at the Thilawa port by Indian Ambassador Abhay Thakur for distribution among the affected areas.
Three more Indian Naval ships, INS Karmukh, INS Gharial, and LCU-52, are enroute to Yangon with over 500 tonnes of additional aid material, it said.
Another Indian Air Force C-130 aircraft is also expected to land directly in Mandalay tomorrow with 15 tonnes of HADR.
It said that on March 29, an IAF aircraft delivered the first tranche of 15 tonnes of humanitarian assistance in Yangon, including tents, blankets, sleeping bags, food packets, hygiene kits, generators and essential medicines. Ambassador Abhay Thakur handed over the assistance at Yangon airport, in the presence of the Chief Minister U Soe Thein.
On the night of March 29, two C-130 and two C-17 aircraft landed in Nay Pyi Taw, transporting an 80-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) search and rescue team, and over 120 medical personnel, together with a total of 85 tonnes of HADR assistance.
These were the first international assistance flights to Nay Pyi Taw.
This HADR aid brought by these four aircraft was handed over by Ambassador Abhay Thakur in Nay Pyi Taw in the presence of Ambassador Maung Maung Lynn of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar, the statement said.
As First Responder to natural disasters in the region, India has swiftly mobilized emergency assistance, a team of rescue and medical professionals, relief materials, including food, water, tents, medicines, and essential supplies, to assist Myanmar and its people, during this difficult and critical hour of need.
It said the massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake and its aftershocks have affected people across Myanmar, including in Sagaing, Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw, Shan and Bago regions.
India shares age-old, spiritual and civilizational people-to-people ties with Myanmar, also known in ancient India as ‘Brahma Desh’. Operation Brahma is, therefore, an embodiment of India’s offering of hope, support, and assistance for long term recovery to the people of Myanmar, it added.
In a post on X, the Indian Embassy said that 50 tonnes of HADR “relief material carried by INS Satpura & INS Savitri handed over by @AmbAbhayThakur today at Yangon.
“With six @IAF_MCC aircraft & five @indiannavy Ships, India's large-scale first-responder assistance has been delivered to Yangon, Naypyitaw & Mandalay.”
India’s assistance comes as the death toll from the earthquake has mounted to 2,056, with 3,900 people injured and 300 people reported missing.
UNI RN