Transcript of Special Briefing on Operation Dost (February 08, 2023)

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: A very good evening to all of you. Thank you for joining us for this special briefing on a very sombre occasion, following the earthquake on the Türkiye-Syria border. We have, as you know, launched 'Operation Dost' to provide humanitarian assistance to the affected people. To give us a sense of how this operation is unfolding and the details, we have actually very unique panel of people here on the dais. Of course, we have with us Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Shri Sanjay Verma. We are also joined here by DG NDRF, Shri Atul Karwal, as well as by CISC from HQ IDS, Air Marshal BR Krishna. Sir, may I request you to have opening remarks and give us a sense of this operation. We also have a small map here. We can show them a little more about our deployment once you are ready sir.

Shri Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West): Well, thank you Arindam. Very good afternoon and Namaskar. What I propose to do is, I would set up the scenario, the build-up, the brief background to 'Operation Dost', the timeline involved, MEA's role in this operation. Let me also welcome our two colleagues, Air Marshal BR Krishna and DG, NDRF, Atul Karwal Ji to MEA, and this, ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, is also a whole of government approach in front of you and while we work on the ground together seamlessly over the last two days. Let me begin by suggesting to you how much of a big tragedy this is. What began as early reports, on Monday, 6th February, of an earthquake striking the Southern part of Turkey and Syria. The reports kept escalating the magnitude of the tragedy. The area it covers on the Turkish part is almost 1.2 lakh square kilometres. It's West to East about 450 kilometres and from North to South about 290 kilometres. There are 10 provinces which have been hit, seven of which are particularly in severe condition. The magnitude, as you know, was 7.6 and then 7.7, 435 aftershocks have taken place since then. The impact of the earthquake was also felt in, apart from Syria, Lebanon, Greece, Israel and Cyprus.

President Erdogan, a few minutes ago, has put the figure of casualties at 8,574 and the injured at 49,133. He has also shared that 6,444 buildings have been razed to the ground or have collapsed. This is the assessment a few minutes back, but as you would know, a government only confirms casualties, when it is fully convinced and a lot of parameters have been met. So this figure can be much higher. In the Syrian part as we know 1,262 casualties have been reported and 2,285 are known to be injured. I may also mention that this is the biggest natural disaster to befall Turkey since 1939, when about 30,000 Turks died in a major earthquake. Now to give you a sense of the build up to Operation Dost, which Prime Minister under his express instructions, has launched. It all began at about 7:30-8 on Monday morning. Dr. Jaishankar, EAM had a meeting in South Block at about 10. At 12:30 Principal Secretary took inter-ministerial meeting which had the participation of the Cabinet Secretary, the Home Secretary, the Health Secretary, Secretary Civil Aviation, DG NDRF, DG NDMA, we have presence from HQ IDS. So this meeting from 12:30 till 1:30 discussed, mind you at this point of time, we had not formally received a request from the Turkish side seeking our assistance. But as you will recollect, around 11:30 or so, Prime Minister himself had tweeted, expressing anguish at the loss of lives and property and expressing his condolences, and also the fact that India stood in solidarity with the people of Turkey, and was ready to extend all possible assistance.

The meeting by Principal Secretary concluded at about 1:30. And we went over the entire scenario of what could be done. Meanwhile, simultaneously or concurrently, at 1 o'clock, we received an official email request from the Turkish side asking for assistance. We had an operational meeting thereafter at 3 o'clock in South Block between the Ministry of Defence, NDMA and NDRF to strategize and to put together resources, that meeting concluded at 3:30. And we take some satisfaction in sharing with you that within 12 hours of that meeting, the first SAR flight left for Turkey from Delhi, and thereafter, we had four such flights, two of them carrying NDRF teams and the other two C17 carrying medical teams. We also had one aircraft, C130 to Syria carrying medical supplies and equipment. Now, let me also briefly touch on MEA's role in this. What I also propose to do is that the operational aspect of Operation Dost, I will request my colleagues to shine the light and share more intricate technical details on the sheer enormity of this exercise of what has gone into it, what the expectations are and what our capabilities are. What MEA has done meanwhile, is that we have deployed two Turkish speaking officers from overseas who flew into Turkey and now stationed there. With our aircrafts, we also deployed four MEA personnel to coordinate and help the process and the operation to coordinate between the Turkish authorities and our teams. We also set up a control room in Adana. The Consul General from Istanbul has moved along with several other officials from our mission in Ankara and they are all stationed on the ground in the affected areas.

Briefly on the Indian community in Turkey, we have 3,000 Indian nationals in Turkey, about 1,850 reside in and around Istanbul, about 250 in Ankara, and the rest are spread all over the country. Now the question you may have uppermost in your mind is the welfare of the Indian community. What I can share with you at this point of time is that while our mission in Ankara set up a special desk, a help desk to receive and anticipate such queries. We have received a calls from about 75 persons asking the embassy for more information or assistance. There are 10 individuals who are stuck in some remote parts of the affected areas, but they are safe. We have one Indian national missing who was on a business visit to Turkey, in a place called Malatya and he has not been traced for the last two days, we are in touch with his family and the company in Bengaluru which employs him. I may also share with you that apart from the vastness, the geographical spread of the region affected, the weather conditions are inclement, the temperatures are sub-zero at night time, it can also rain there, transport and communication links have been disturbed, mobile towers have been affected. So, the communication can be patchy, plus the focus is on rescue and for that matter, other regular services, may be power, water etc., could be in shortage, but the fact is, apart from one Indian missing and 10 Indians who are safe, but are sort of in a difficult situation, we don't have any other reports at this point of time, which suggests that the Indian community in that part of Turkey is under any fatal danger. I can also share with you that three other Indians who had sort of approached us have moved to a safer habitation and are doing alright.

So, this is by way of my introduction, what I can also share with you is that our response under the direction of Honourable Prime Minister has been extremely swift, when you sort of soak in the intricacies of putting together an operation like this, which involves inter-services, different ministries, etc., putting both man, material, equipment in place and that will emerge, as my colleague share with you the larger details of this operation. What I would like to stress here is that India has since the tsunami crisis built up enviable capacity in HADR i.e. Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, we have in various parts of the world, stretched ourselves in quick time, whether it was Operation Rahat, Operation Ganga, in Sri Lanka, in the Philippines, Japan, all these were operations which were launched with increasing professionalism. And this time, the speed at which it was put together. And also, this is probably the furthest we have gone in terms of our HADR involving specialized teams. So we sort of try and live up to our reputation as being first responders, and also net security providers in these challenging times.

I will rest my comments here for the moment and be happy to answer questions after my colleagues have made their part of their presentation. Thank you.

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson:Thank you very much, sir. Who'd like to go first? NDRF, may I request, sir.

Shri Atul Karwal, DG NDRF: Good evening, everyone. I'll quickly go through the bare details, which you might be already familiar with. So, we were given the go ahead, in the 12:30 meeting held under Dr. P K Mishra of the PMO. And NDRF had been preparing for such deployments for the last several months actually because we are looking for an international certification and we had two teams partially ready at two locations- Ghaziabad 8th Battalion and Kolkata 2nd Battalion. So, we picked up the best people. The equipment that we required, which is quite a long list, because when the teams move they have to be prepared for all kinds of situations which this kind of a disaster can bring forth. And these two teams were then, documentation was done in a very prompt fashion by the External Affairs Ministry, official passports made, issued, forms filled, teams collected ration tentage. The ethos is that when we go to a situation like this, NDRF presumes that the local administration is already under a lot of stress. So we presume that we should not be an additional stress on them and we should need nothing from them. So the teams go prepared for a self-sustained 15-day operation. They carry their tentage, they carry their rations, so that if we don't see anybody there, only one person who points out a building to us or a set of buildings, please work here, that's all we need. So, in this case, we explored the possibility that whether transportation would be available when we reach which was not very clear still, so we carried vehicles with us three vehicles with the first team which left at 3 o'clock yesterday morning landed at 11 o'clock. Second Team landed at 2000 hours in the evening. Total of seven vehicles, 101 rescuers, including five lady rescuers, who are doing really well in the force and they volunteered for this and they have gone maybe as a first to an international operation, including four K9 partners with us, four snipper dogs. So these teams are already in operation.

So one team landed at Adana, the first one at 11 o'clock yesterday, and the second team was diverted to Urfa because the Adana was crowded. So second team landed at about 2045 hours, almost quarter to nine. And they are both being converged at the place, Nurdagi, which is in Gaziantep province, one of the worst affected areas. So they are both there right now and deployed. They are still living in tents. They realized when they started assessing the damage there that the buildings they were entering and assessing, was still suffering from aftershocks, still shaky, unstable so they have chosen to be in the open. The weather is, as mentioned by the Secretary (West), is harsh. Aside from the low temperatures, it's windy, snowfall, rainfall, but the teams are very well equipped, we quickly put together a very good apparel for them from a whole of government approach, ITBP pitched in with their best attire for winter clothing. So they are comfortable and they started working.

Then the third team's requirement was pitched, sent to us. So the third team was under preparation in Varanasi. We have more teams in queue in case we require, but third team from Varanasi was airlifted and brought to Delhi today. I just met them at Hindon airport. And in the next few hours they would depart with again 51 rescuers, a K9 complement, and four vehicles so that the stress on the local administration is the minimal. So that is the stage as of now. Where they will deploy the third team is left to the local administration. The Defence Attache of the embassy there is coordinating our liaisoning with the local administration and they will decide where do they need this team to start working. So that is the NDRF response till now. As I mentioned, we have more teams in reserve because we don't know how many more would be required. The damages is extensive across a very large area and we are prepared to render whatever help any additional teams that India can provide to Turkey in this time of crisis. Thank you.

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson:Thank you very much, sir. May I request Air Marshal Krishna.

Air Marshal BR Krishna, CISC, HQ IDS: Good evening and Jai Hind. Just want to add more to what my colleagues have mentioned here is how we have built up the capacities for HADR. As you all must be knowing we do annual exercise of HADR to build up our capabilities or capacities and our SOPs, which is very important, that's how it helps us to respond to such situations very fast. And as brought out, I think within a short time we could mobilize our resources and get everything going apart from documentation, people, equipment, and be able to be there from the time it was known to us within about 12 hours plus, so which is a very quick reaction and also deploy at a place which is further away, flying time about seven and a half to eight hours. And the entire planning process which has to be done for such a mission is equally important. So everybody is geared up now to react to such a situation. And that reflects the kind of synergy and the whole of government approach as was being alluded to earlier.

So we had the aircraft allotted, positioned in Delhi as soon as the equipment had come here, the first flight took off early morning at 03:00 around that time. It's not a question of day or night now we are available 24/7. So it took off early morning hours in terms of their landing at around as mentioned around 10:30, 11:00 hours, India time. So, like that we have done four C17 flights to Turkey. And apart from that one C130 flight which has gone landed for Syria. And there's one more flight, which is standing by to go shortly, as soon as the formalities are completed it will get airborne. So if you look at it, the type of aircraft using the load we are carrying, and we have put two medical teams in the last two C17 which have gone to Turkey, it's about 100 personnel, which has got a lot of medical equipment. So that helps us to help people who are there and in terms of whatever they need. So we are only aiding on the ground. As brought out all these people are self-sustaining, so it helps us to make tasks simpler on the ground. And as and when there is a requirement to have more resources to be pumped in there I think we are all standing by at short notice to do that. Thank you.

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson:Thank you very much. Before I take the questions some of you have asked earlier what exactly is the size of the operation. So basically, we've had moved four flights, four C17 already airborne, infact landed, one C17 ready to take off in next few hours, one C130 which has landed and equipment handed over and nearly 129 or 130 tons after the sixth flight would have been moved to Turkiye, and other six tons of equipment in the C130 to Syria, overall 200 persons already on the ground, specialized rescue personnel, another 50, so 250 personnel by the end of this flight in addition to all the MEA civilian personnel that have already been mobilized. Also, as sir was mentioning, within the MEA also we have developed some expertise, we have a Rapid Response Cell which has been coordinating closely with the two key divisions Central Europe division, as well as the West Asia North Africa division. So, we also are very geared towards these kinds of operations, so we can also liaise quickly and all the Joint Secretaries here actually are with us in the room. Okay, let me start with the questions. I saw some hands. I want to start with you do today. And I'll come back to you.

Rishikesh Kumar: Sir, I'm Rishikesh Kumar from the Press Trust of India. My first question would be, is there any plan or is there any dedicated team to rescue or evacuate Indians stuck in this quake hit zone, and the second question, what are the reasons for not deploying or sending our NDRF team to Syria?

Sidhant:Sir, I'm Sidhant from CNN News18. Sir, I have a follow-up question to what gentlemen has asked. Sir, in fact, even I have been reading a lot of stuff regarding American sanctions on Syria. So have we faced any kind of problem while sending material to Damascus, one. And the second question is, sir, right now Syria is being controlled by three powers. So we are sending material to Damascus. My question is for the areas which fall under the control of the rebel groups. What about those areas? Thank you.

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: What do you mean by what about those rebel groups?

Sidhant:Like, whether this material is going to reach out to those areas? Or is it left to Damascus to decide?

Sidhant: Hi, sir I'm Sidhant from WION. My question is on Syria. Essentially what kind of help you're looking to provide to Syria. You said one plane, if you can give details as to how many planes are expected to go and will we have boots on the ground like we have in Turkey?

Madhurendra: Madhurendra main News Nation se, jaise ki team hamari vahan already ground par hain, main janana chahunga ki abhi disaster ki kya challenges hai khastor par vahan par dikhai de rahe hai jis tarah ka poora ka poora earthquake ke baad ki sthiti visuals mein dikhai de rahi hai, kis tarah se hum handle kar rahe hain aur jaisa ki aapne bataya ki or add on karne ke liye hamare pass team ready hai, to kya challenges hai jisko hum add on kar sakte hai in terms of aur NDRF team and medical equipment? (Questioned in Hindi; Approximate Translation) Madhurendra from News Nation, I would like to know, as we are already on the ground there, what are the challenges of disaster right now, especially the kind of situation - as seen in the visuals - after the earthquake. How are we handling those, and as you mentioned, we have a team ready to add on, so what are the challenges where we can add on in terms of more NDRF team and medical equipment?

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson:We'll take these four and then we'll try to come back to another round.

Shri Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West): May I begin with the challenges involved. I will leave it to my colleagues to answer that. On Syria, let me upfront suggest to you that this is not an opportune time to sort of magnify and do a deep dive into the geospatial, geostrategic issues affecting that region. At this point of time, I think what should be uppermost in our mind is, you know, the 'G20 mantra One Earth, One Family, One Future'. And in all of this, the present becomes a testing ground on how we as humans come together. So my request would be let's leave that aside for another day. And let's focus on the humanitarian aspect of this crisis. Sanctions do not cover such humanitarian challenges. What we have sent I can share with you is the six tonnes of medicines and equipment, which includes protective gear, emergency use medicines. It also consists of hydration supplements, lifesaving antibiotics, protective gear, gowns, paracetamol, medical equipment like ECG machines, syringes, pumps, patient monitors, etc. It's almost three truckloads of medicines and equipment. So I would suggest that we leave this aside for the time being.

The question on Indians impacted, of course, they will always be uppermost in our minds. But as I had suggested to you that these Indians are relatively safe, and you can see the imagery coming out of Turkey on how devastating the impact has been, you know, 6000 odd buildings collapsing like house of cards, so relatively, the Indians that we are aware of, are relatively safer. It is the intended purpose and commitment of our mission in Ankara, to work with the local authorities, and to vacate them to safer places, and as well as at the same time, get them food and water. And when the time is right, to move them out of the affected zones, because right now in the affected area, the movement is largely focused on the most dire of circumstances and cases. Thank you.

Shri Atul Karwal, DG NDRF: Quickly responding to the concerns you have, one is rescuing Indians. So the NDRF has a protocol of triage that when I reach a situation, I find out where would my efforts be most useful in the first few hours. So if the Indians are safe, or anybody for that matter is safe and fine, even if they are stuck up somewhere, which is not so pleasant, I would still focus my energies on people who are buried under the rubble, who may only have a few hours to live. We are about I think, what now 60 hours into the earthquake, it hit at 4:17 in the morning, day before yesterday so the possibility of finding live victims is diminishing as we go deeper into time. Therefore, the concern right now is to look at those victims who can be saved. Even dead body retrieval would take a second place. But right now, we are looking for live victims and getting them out as fast as we can, hence the Indian or anybody else for that matter they would be taken up when we are through with the first part, that we assure ourselves I cannot save any more lives from under the rubble, then I'll go and rescue people who are in less trouble.

Second question was about sending team to Syria. We are demand driven, that the country which has been hit is actually the most well informed about what help they need, where, in what shape, what quantity. So the request came from Turkey to deploy teams. So we deployed two and now we have sent the third one. Because the accepting country has to give us a lot of liberty of allowing foreign equipment, customs, immigration, quarantine for the K9s which go, all of that has to be provided. So, then challenges in disaster management or response in this, the weather is harsh and the electric power is not very reliable. So we keep losing it or machines work on petrol or on power, petrol is scarce. Therefore, we are now learning from the earlier two teams and we are carrying diesel generator sets along with 2000 litres of diesel that we have loaded in the present plane which will go with the third team. So it's a dynamic process of learning through the first teams which are reaching there to find out what more can I send with the third one to make it more effective. The damage is extensive, time is of the essence and we have barely any accommodation facilities in which rescuers can go in and stay in a manner that they would be completely safe and away from harm because my concern is also, rescuers get harmed, my capacity to respond is impaired. So the rescuers also must take care of themselves to be useful. Additional teams, we are prepared with several, we have a lot of additional teams, we have five in the pipeline for example now who are prepared to go. So as the demand comes we will be ready to send. Additional things, for example we have sent is, the meals ready to eat because Ration is an issue, If fuel is an issue we can't cook. So all these things are being thought of, we are quick on the toes learning from as we hear more from our teams and making them more effective on ground. Thank you.

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson:I think Sidhant from CNN News just mentioned about how we are sending it, look we are working through the Government in Damascus and that's how as you heard we sent it there. I think the other parts have been answered. Okay, next round of questions. You have something, yes go ahead.

Sandeep:Sir sandeep News 18 India se, mera sawal CISC se hai ki sir abhi ek team army ki medical jo field team hai woh gayi hai vahan pe, kya aur bhi teams vahan bheji jaengi kyonki vahan pe jis tarike ki sthiti bani hui hai or medication jaruri hai to kya aur bhi teams ko stand by par rakha gaya hai Sir ? (Questioned in Hindi; Approximate Translation) Sir Sandeep from News 18 India, my question to CISC is, Sir, a medical field team of the army has gone there, will more teams be sent there because of the kind of situation there and medication is necessary, so have we kept more teams on standby Sir?

Kadambini:Kadambini Sharma from NDTV India. Sir main aapse janna chahti hoon ki 65 countries ki teams vahan, rescue or relief teams hai vahan par to process kya hota hai coordination ka ya sab alag-alag kaam karti hai teamen? (Questioned in Hindi; Approximate Translation) Sir, I want to know from you that there are rescue and relief teams from 65 countries there, so what is the process of coordination on the ground or all the teams work separately?

Rishabh:Sir, Rishabh from Times Now. Given the magnitude of the disaster that we are seeing, are there further plans to send more relief materials or more boots on ground tomorrow and day after as well. We know that there is one flight which will take off anytime now. Are there further plans to send more relief material to both Syria and Turkey? Or has the demand been stopped from those countries?

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson:I think we'll close with that question.

Shri Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West):I just have a suggestion to make, I think boots on the ground, I think these are different kinds of boots.

Air Marshal BR Krishna, CISC, HQ IDS: Jo aapne prashn poochha tha about medical team on standby. So the medical teams which are there at field hospital, are already getting deployed as we speak now. The relief efforts are on and hamari ek or medical team stand by par hai jaise requirement aayegi, jaise bata rahe the sthiti ke ooper to usko bheja jayega. So that way we are well prepared. I think one good thing which has happened over a period of time is our preparation and usake baad hamen koi chinta nahi hai because we can respond at a short notice, thank you. (Answered in Hindi; Approximate Translation) The question you asked about the medical team on standby. So, the medical teams which are there at Field Hospital are already getting deployed as we speak now. The relief efforts are on and another medical team is on standby, as soon as the requirement comes it will be sent as per the situation. So that way we are well prepared. I think one good thing which has happened over a period of time is our preparation and after that we don't need to worry because we can respond at a short notice, thank you.

Shri Atul Karwal, DG NDRF: Mam aapka sawal tha interoperability ka, coordination ka. ek United Nation ka INSARAG protocol hai, International Search And Rescue Advisory Group, uski certification hoti hai, hamari ye do teams uski certification ki taiyari mein bahut din se training kar rahi hai, to certified nahi hai lekin woh saare protocols jaante hain toh, islie vahan pahunchane ke baad mein jis area mein hum kaam kar rahe hai, Spanish team bhi us area mein hai, unse hamara achchha protocols ke saath interoperability hai aur uspe koi dikkat nahi aayegi. (Answered in Hindi; Approximate Translation) Ma'am, your question was on interoperability, there is a protocol of United Nations on coordination, INSARAG, International Search And Rescue Advisory Group, there is a certification for this. Our these two teams have been training for a long time for this certification, while these are not yet certified but they know all the protocols. So, after reaching there, the area where we are working, the Spanish team is also in that area. We have a good protocol of interoperability with them and there will be no problem with it.

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson:I just add to couple of them, ek on the coordination of ground, aapne kadambini ne poochha tha, dekhiye hamare vahan embassy ke teams hai jo sir ne bataya vahan par hai, to government of Turkiye ke saath jo discussion ho rahi hai usi se coordinate ho rahe hai. woh bhi define kar rahe hai kaun se area mein kaun se team ki jarurat hai to hum unke saath bhi liaise kar rahe hain taki duplication bhi na ho hamare teams ki or officially jaisa sir ne kaha interoperability bhi poori tarah hai.

Aur sandeep aapne puchha prashn ki, kisne pucha tha abhi ye field team k baare mein aur jyada aap bhejne chahte hai. Dekhiye, I think kabhi hamein lagta hai number jaise ye hospital hai, medical hai, ye bahut bada hai, do planes mein jaata hai ye field hospital jisamen 100 log karib, 99 log gaye hai ismen, ismen 20-20 ya 40 ton ke ooper hai, to ye bahut bada hai 30 bedded hospital jo bahut jagah nahi hoti hai ye ab setup kar rahe hain waha pe. Of course iske additional bhi vahan jo chahiye medical assistance usake liye bhi prabandh hai hamare pass… but ye major hospital hai… dusra bhi hum bhej denge, par jaisa unhone kaha Sir ne hamare pass aur bhi backup hai par ye bahut major decision hota hai aur requirement ke upar depend karta hai. (Answered in Hindi; Approximate Translation) One on the coordination on ground, you asked Kadimbini, see we have embassy teams there, which sir mentioned are there, so the discussion that is happening with the government of Turkiye is being coordinated through them. They are also defining which team is needed in which area, so we are also liaising with them so that there is no duplication of our teams and officially, as sir said, there is complete interoperability.

-And Sandeep you asked the question, who asked this question about the field team, that we want to send more. Look, I think sometimes we think about numbers, like hospital or medical, see, it is quite large, it goes in two planes, this field hospital in which around 100, or 99 people have gone in it, it has about 20-20, 40 tons of equipment, so it is very big, a 30 bedded hospital is being set up there. Of course, we also have arrangements for additional medical assistance when needed, but this is a major hospital… we can send another one, but as sir said, we have more backups but it is a very major decision and depends on the requirement.

So same, Rishabh, it answers your question to the extent, look it is all demand driven and request driven. At this point we have announced what are our plans, if and when we have some more information on this regard, we'll certainly share with you.

Speaker 1: Sir, I just want to know that has Prime Minister spoken to his counterpart in Turkey or Syria, any telephonic conversation has taken place?

Shailendra Wangu:Shailendra Wangu Network 18 se, aapne bataya ki ek Indian missing vahan par hai, usaki koi aur jankari mil sakti hai woh kis state se hai? vo vahan kis company mein kaam kar rahe the, Bangalore ka aapne bataya. (Questioned in Hindi; Approximate Translation) Shailendra Wangu from Network 18, you mentioned that an Indian is missing there, can I have more information about him, which state is he from? For which company he was working there? you told that he is from Bangalore.

Speaker 2: Sir, I had this question like, we have sent this relief material to Syria, so, are these really going to go in one side of the city or the rebels or the……

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: I think your question has been answered, they are going through the Government of Syria. Okay. Sir, if you have something additional on that, we will close with that sir.

Shri Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West):Well, nothing really to add more, communication lines are open with both Damascus and Ankara. Foreign Minister, Dr. Jaishankar is in touch with his counterpart in Türkiye. All I would like to say is that the complexity of an exercise like this in terms of the moving parts involved, and how quickly they come together, and are executed in an alien environment, you would imagine that when we refer to our HADR experience, you know, whether it's the Nepal earthquake, or Yemen or Ukraine, you would think that there is a standard template, with closed eyes you can do that, every situation is unique. And while there may be a core component in terms of what we can prepare for, in terms of the training of manpower, and the resources and material and equipment we have, but every challenge is unique in itself. So there will always be learning and the fact that we all come together in a very, very short time to execute this I think this speaks wonderfully well for the coordination between different ministries and with the defence forces. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues, Joint Secretary Arun Sahu, in the CE Division who looks after Türkiye, Dr. Pradeep Rajpurohit, Joint Secretary, West Asia and North Africa who covers Syria, and Satish Sivan, Joint Secretary, RRC, Rapid Response Cell. I think we are one of the very few Ministries on the planet, which has a rapid response cell, which has dealt over the years with the situations like the COVID, Operation Ganga and now Operation Dost. So I hope you will take this understanding and explain it to your readers and your viewers, the complexity of what is involved in this operation, and that we require your support and your understanding.

And I'll close my remarks here and I thank the spokesperson for arranging this.

Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Thank you very much, Secretary, sir, as well as our thanks to Shri Atul Karwal, DG NDRF, as well as Air Marshal BR Krishna, CISC for being here. We will continue to bring you updates as our Operation Dost unfolds.

Thank you. Good evening.