Operation Brahma: India sends 400 tonnes of relief material to quake-hit Myanmar

The 80-member search and rescue team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is combing through rubble at more than a dozen sites in Mandalay to look for survivors

India on Tuesday despatched more than 400 tonnes of relief material on a warship for earthquake-hit Myanmar even as Indian search and rescue teams fanned out in some of the worst-affected areas to look for survivors.

Operation Brahma mounted by the Indian government is emerging as the biggest response by a foreign country to help Myanmar. (Dr S Jaishankar | Official X account)

Operation Brahma mounted by the Indian government is emerging as the biggest response by a foreign country to help Myanmar following Friday’s 7.7-magnitude earthquake that has killed more than 2,000 people and injured nearly 4,000 others.

A field hospital manned by experts from the Indian Army is operational at the old airport in Mandalay, the region hit hardest by the quake. The 80-member search and rescue team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is combing through rubble at more than a dozen sites in Mandalay to look for survivors.

INS Ghariyal, an amphibious warfare vessel of the Indian Navy, departed from Vishakhapatnam port with 442 tonnes of food items on Tuesday. A C-130 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) left Delhi for Mandalay on Tuesday morning with 16 tonnes of humanitarian aid, rice and food items.

Another 30 tonnes of aid, including food, medical supplies and tents, delivered by two Indian warships was handed over to Myanmar authorities on Tuesday.

On Monday, the warships INS Satpura and INS Savitri arrived in Yangon with 50 tonnes of relief materials.

Since arriving at earthquake-affected sites in Mandalay on Monday, the Indian search and rescue personnel have extended critical support in the search for survivors, officials said.

The massive temblor and its aftershocks affected people across Myanmar, including Sagaing, Mandalay, Naypyitaw, Shan and Bago regions. The first tranche of 15 tonnes of humanitarian aid was delivered to Yangon by an IAF aircraft on March 29.

The army field hospital with about 120 personnel and the 80-member NDRF search and rescue team, along with 85 tonnes of equipment, were flown in by two C-130 and two C-17 aircraft on March 29. These were the first international assistance flights to reach Naypyitaw, where the airport was affected by the quake.

Officials said the Indian response was guided by the “Neighbourhood First” and “Act East” policies and had again reaffirmed the country’s role as the first responder in the region.