Understanding 'Operation Dost': How India is lending 'helping hand' to quake-hit Turkey

On Monday, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake took place as people were sleeping, causing widespread destruction to thousands of structures, trapping an unknown number of individuals, and potentially impacting millions.

𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 '𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝘀𝘁'

In response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's directive to provide immediate aid to Turkey, India promptly dispatched search and rescue teams from the National Disaster Response Force, medical teams, and relief supplies. The teams and supplies are being sent by air and are being joined by support from dozens of countries including the United States, China, and Gulf States.

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝘀𝘁:

1) The World Health Organization director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that time is quickly running out for the thousands of individuals who are still believed to be trapped and injured. The death toll from the earthquake has now risen to 9,500.

2) The fourth Indian Air Force C17 carrying aid for the earthquake victims in Turkey has landed in Adana.

3) Winter storms have greatly hindered the passage on several roads, some of which were already damaged by the earthquake, leading to severe difficulties and causing kilometer-long traffic congestion in some regions.

4) The Turkish-Syrian border is a seismically active area on the planet. Turkey hasn't seen an earthquake of such magnitude since 1939, when 33,000 people lost their lives in the eastern region of Erzincan.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗲𝗱 𝟲-𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿-𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗿𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗹𝗲

The young girl was enveloped in a blanket, with her neck firmly stabilized by a medical device, as a physician assessed her wellbeing. A team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), recognizable by their yellow helmets, carefully carried her on a stretcher and brought her to safety from the debris of a fallen structure.

Home ministry spokesperson, posting on Twitter with hashtag 'Operation Dost', shared video of the moment the 6-year-old girl was rescued and wrote: "Standing with Turkey in this natural calamity. India's NDRF is carrying out rescue and relief operations at ground zero. Team IND-11 successfully retrieved a 6-year-old girl from Nurdagi, Gaziantep today."