India is emerging as a global first responder to natural disasters - opinion

When a giant wave of seawater struck Chennai’s Marina Beach on the morning of December 26, 2004, pulling in its wake fisherfolk and a group of children playing cricket, little did their brethren know that an entire region had been struck.

And little did they know that across the Bay of Bengal, local people and foreign tourists on Thai and Indonesian beaches had also been swept away.

It resulted in the death of almost a quarter million people and the displacement of a couple million people in 14 countries of the Indo-Pacific.

It also marked the coming of age of India’s Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) institutional capacity.

India not only dealt with death and destruction in its mainland, particularly in the coastal states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, as well as major devastation in its island territories of Andaman & Nicobar (A&N) islands, but also provided speedy assistance to countries in south and south-east Asia, including Sri Lanka, Maldives, Thailand, and Indonesia.

Simultaneously, India launched five HADR operations – two national and three international: Operation Madad (coastal south India), Operation Sea Waves (A&N), Operation Castor (Maldives), Operation Rainbow (Sri Lanka), and Operation Gambhir (Indonesia).

These involved the three defense services and the Indian Coast Guard – more than 40 ships, several transport aircraft, and helicopters, and over 20,000 military personnel were deployed.

India’s actions led to its recognition as a credible first responder in the Indo-Pacific region.

It’s a three-layered structure at the national, state, and district level, and it led to the establishment of a dedicated force, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), to respond to such calamities.

The 2004 tsunami also saw the navies of four countries – Australia, India, Japan, and the US – coming together to coordinate the delivery of assistance in a collaborative effort that eventually evolved into the Quad.

In December 2014, India undertook one of its most complex humanitarian missions, Operation Neer, to supply drinking water to the Maldives after that country’s only desalination plant broke down.

Indian aircraft and naval ships worked around the clock to supply over 1,500 tonnes of drinking water to the Maldives, becoming the first country to respond to its request.

In April 2015, when a massive earthquake hit Nepal, India launched a comprehensive rescue-and-relief mission, called Operation Maitri, within six hours of the initial tremors.

Several thousand stranded Indians and foreign nationals were evacuated by air and land routes, and hundreds of tonnes of essential material were delivered. Several field hospitals were set up.

After the relief operations were completed, India launched a major rehabilitation and reconstruction package of around $2 billion for Nepal.

Field hospitals were set up in Mandalay, while engineering teams were deployed for reconnaissance and assessment of structural damage. Op Brahma was a classic whole-of-government HADR endeavor by the Indian Government.

At the end of 2025, India provided massive support to Sri Lanka under Operation Sagar Bandhu during Cyclone Ditwah. Food, equipment, medicines, and other essential items were provided, and over 1,000 tonnes of dry rations were supplied.

Beyond its immediate neighborhood, India also responded with alacrity to requests from Turkey and Syria when they were struck by earthquakes in 2023.

Under Operation Dost, India was a first responder, sending large Search and Rescue teams of more than 250 personnel, along with medical teams and dog squads to both countries as well as materials support.

In March 2019, India provided HADR to cyclone-hit Mozambique, and in 2023, assisted Malawi, which was affected by a tropical cyclone.

On June 26, 2026, India undertook its most ambitious HADR initiative when 30 tonnes of humanitarian relief materials, accompanied by a 41-member team comprising experienced rescue personnel and medical professionals, arrived in two C-17s to earthquake-hit Venezuela.

India supplied 300 million vaccine doses to 99 countries and two UN entities under the Vaccine Maitri initiative during COVID-19, since January 2021, along with essential medicines and medical support.

For India, HADR has moved from being an episodic activity to a continuous global engagement.

It is an essential feature of India’s foreign and security policy, formally enunciated in the Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) doctrine announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to Mauritius in March 2015, which underpins India’s approach to the Indian Ocean Region.

It became an intrinsic part of our Indo-Pacific Vision and Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative announced in 2019 and evolved into the MAHASAGAR vision outlined by Modi in March 2025.

India’s approach is not merely reactive.

It has also put in place frameworks for international cooperation in prevention and mitigation, and it contributed toward setting up an international tsunami warning system and the launch of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.

The CDRI, comprising 60 member states, works with 25 small island developing states to build disaster-resilient infrastructure including schools, hospitals, and homes.

By providing need-based and rapid assistance during emergencies, and through its efforts to develop capacities for mutual benefit, India is seen as a reliable first responder and a force for global good.