Indian Armed Forces provide critical assistance during disasters at home, abroad
Mandeep Singh
The Indian Armed Forces have taken on an increasingly central role in providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), both at home and across the Indo-Pacific. With calamities such as wildfires, storms, flooding and landslides on the rise, as well as the persistent threats of volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis to ever-increasing urban populations, this role is sure to grow, according to analysts. And India’s military is working to improve its HADR capabilities and participating in multilateral exercises to ensure that it is prepared for the tasks ahead.
“India is the largest country in its neighborhood by quite a distance, both in terms of its economy and military capabilities,” Saneet Chakradeo, a researcher at the Center for the Advanced Study of India in New Delhi, told FORUM. “It is thus natural for India to assume the role of a regional first responder in times of crises in South Asia.”
When Cyclone Gulab forced nearly 50,000 people from their homes in western India in late September 2021, teams of the Indian Army and Navy, along with ships and aircraft, deployed to the coasts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh states to bring relief supplies and perform search and rescue, reported India’s Hindustan Times newspaper. In such domestic emergencies, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) coordinates with the National Disaster Management Authority to conduct HADR, Chakradeo said. The National Disaster Response Force, which is mostly made up of paramilitary Soldiers, are typically the designated boots on the ground, he added. (Pictured: Members of India’s National Disaster Response Force move residents to safety after flooding in Bengaluru, India, in November 2021.)
“For emergencies outside of India, Indian military assets, personnel and specialized teams such as medical experts, engineers, telecommunication specialists, etc., are often deployed at the request of the affected country,” he said.
India’s status as a regional HADR provider has risen dramatically in recent decades, Chakradeo said, with large operations during the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, cyclones Nargis and Mora, the 2015 Nepal earthquake and other disasters.
To maintain its HADR capability, the MOD has acquired assets, including patrol boats and aircraft. One acquisition was the United States-made Boeing C-17 Globemaster transport plane. Between 2013 and 2022, the Indian Air Force put 11 C-17s into service, according to MOD documents. The aircraft proved critical on a number of HADR missions, including the transfer of oxygen containers during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
Multilateral exercises are also fundamental to the upkeep of India’s HADR capability, Chakradeo emphasized.
“India has traditionally collaborated with its neighbors on HADR-focused exercises, especially Nepal and Sri Lanka,” he said. He mentioned the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium HADR maritime exercise in the Arabian Sea from March 26-30, 2022, and involving Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand, along with Australia, France, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
“The last couple of decades has seen an increase in collaboration with extraregional partners, most prominently the U.S.,” he said. “In the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami, the U.S. collaborated with India on relief operations in the Indo-Pacific and soon began HADR-focused annual exercises.”
HADR was a lead agenda item at the fourth Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, foreign ministers’ meeting in February 2022, which included Australia, India, Japan and the U.S.
“Since 2004, when we collaborated in response to the Indian Ocean tsunami, Quad partners have continued to respond quickly and effectively to natural disasters in the Indo-Pacific. We recognize that recent natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the need to build and maintain resilience against such events,” read a joint statement after the meeting of the Quad, which also committed to “further strengthening our collaboration and building links between our response agencies to provide timely and effective HADR support to the region.”
Mandeep Singh is a FORUM contributor reporting from New Delhi, India.
IMAGE CREDIT: REUTERS
