Operation Dost: Indian Army’s medical team returns from quake-hit Turkey

India launched Operation Dost to aid in search-and-rescue in Turkey and Syria following deadly earthquakes that struck on February 6 and claimed over 46,000 lives to date.

After successfully running medical relief operations in quake-hit Turkey, a 99-member Army medical team that ran field hospitals in Iskenderun and Hatay landed in India on Monday.

Indian Army's medical team upon arrival from Turkey at Ghaziabad's Hindon Airbase on Monday. (@MEAIndia/ Twitter)

Sharing visuals of the team's arrival at Ghaziabad's Hindon Airbase, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted, "The Army medical team deployed under Operation Dost in Türkiye touches down in India. The 99-member self-contained team successfully set up and ran a fully equipped 30-bedded Field Hospital in Iskenderun, Hatay, attending nearly 4,000 patients."

Recounting the journey, Lt Col Adarsh Sharma, second in command of the 60 Parachute Field Hospital thanked the government for taking a quick decision as time was crucial at that moment.

"I thank the government for taking the quick decision to send us for this disaster response. We were told to establish our field hospital and within a matter of hours we were functional and started receiving casualties," he told news agency ANI.

Stating the team had won the hearts and minds of the Turkish people, he said "In the total duration of the operation we saw around 3,600 patients, and it included major and minor surgeries. The mission was to win the minds and hearts of the people by providing them with timely medical care. I think we have achieved that."

"The patients were very thankful as their health care system was not functioning at the max so they were kind of very grateful to the nation and the team that we are there and providing the necessary medical assistance," he added.

India launched Operation Dost to aid in search-and-rescue in Turkey and Syria following deadly earthquakes that struck on February 6 and claimed over 46,000 lives to date.