{"id":53278,"date":"2017-05-29T14:27:13","date_gmt":"2017-05-29T18:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=53278"},"modified":"2017-05-29T14:41:33","modified_gmt":"2017-05-29T18:41:33","slug":"india-demonstrates-its-relevance-and-importance-by-responding-first-and-fast-to-sri-lankas-appeal-after-floods-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=53278","title":{"rendered":"India Demonstrates Its Relevance and Importance by Responding First and Fast To Sri Lanka&#8217;s Appeal After Floods Tragedy."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By P.K.Balachandran<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>India\u2019s swift delivery of relief supplies and personnel to flood and landslide-hit Sri Lanka has re-affirmed its position as Sri Lanka\u2019s most relevant neighbor, and also its primacy as a power in the South Asian region.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-video\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">IndianNavy saving precious lives making sure no one is left behind <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FloodSL?src=hash\">#FloodSL<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/narendramodi\">@narendramodi<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MEAIndia\">@MEAIndia<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SushmaSwaraj\">@SushmaSwaraj<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrSJaishankar\">@DrSJaishankar<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/indiannavy\">@indiannavy<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hnGJXFzOvz\">pic.twitter.com\/hnGJXFzOvz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; India in Sri Lanka (@IndiainSL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IndiainSL\/status\/869167419553570816\">May 29, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>via: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IndiainSL\/status\/869167419553570816\">@IndiainSL<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>No other country in the region, Pakistan and China included, can act with such speed, and deliver men and material in such high volumes at short notice when natural or man-made disasters strike Sri Lanka. Pakistan is yet to respond materially and China announced late on Sunday ,that it will send US$ 2.2 million worth of relief goods.<\/p>\n<p>Pakistan, India\u2019s rival in Sri Lanka and the South Asian region, woke up to the need to respond to Sri Lanka\u2019s global call for help, a tad too late. Awakened by the media blitz on the arrival of the Indian naval vessel INS Kirch with relief material and workers, the Acting Pakistan High Commissioner, Dr.Sarfraz Ahmd Khan Sipra, issued a press release in the afternoon saying that Pakistan is discussing with the Sri Lankan authorities the kind of relief they want, and these will be delivered soon. He made it a point to recall that only recently, when Sri Lanka was facing a drought, Pakistan sent 10,000 mt of rice.<\/p>\n<p>But Pakistan\u2019s response paled into insignificance in the light of what the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India\u2019s new High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, did within 24 hours of Sri Lanka\u2019s global appeal. More than a 100 had died and over 200,000 had been displaced in 14 districts in the floods and landslides caused by a particularly virulent South West Monsoon.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\nINS Kirsh a corvette laden with relief material and relief workers, docked at Colombo harbor early in the morning on Saturday to be received by none other than the new Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, Ravi Karunanyake. INS Shardul ,a tank carrier with more relief material on board, docked on Sunday; and INS Jalashwa,  a landing craft and the biggest of the three vessels, is expected on Monday. The India team will have helicopters besides inflatable boats.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-video\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Reaching rlf mtl to stranded people <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/indiannavy\">@indiannavy<\/a> SL navy jt opns <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FloodSL?src=hash\">#FloodSL<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/narendramodi\">@narendramodi<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SushmaSwaraj\">@SushmaSwaraj<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrSJaishankar\">@DrSJaishankar<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MEAIndia\">@MEAIndia<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/indiannavy\">@indiannavy<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8BhjOf8U82\">pic.twitter.com\/8BhjOf8U82<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; India in Sri Lanka (@IndiainSL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IndiainSL\/status\/869219639682879488\">May 29, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>via: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IndiainSL\/status\/869219639682879488\">@IndiainSL<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Recounting the sequence of events, High Commissioner Sandhu said that following a request for help from the Sri Lankan government on May 26, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi (who was in Guwahati in Eastern India on tour) was contacted. The Prime Minister immediately directed the Indian navy to rush aid to the disaster struck neighbor.<\/p>\n<p>Indian naval doctors treating a young Buddhist monk in flood ravaged Kalutara<br \/>\n\u201cIn less than 24 hours, relief materials were assembled, the vessel INS Kirch was diverted from its deployment, loaded with the assembled material, and bought to Colombo,\u201d Sandhu said underlining the swiftness of India\u2019s response.<\/p>\n<p>The envoy said that India\u2019s speedy response stemmed from good neighborliness a \u201ca value  grounded in Indian and Sri Lankan cultures,\u201d as he put it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the traditions of India and Sri Lanka, when one is in trouble, it is the neighbors and relations who rush to his help. India\u2019s response is in line with that tradition,\u201d  Sandhu explained.<\/p>\n<p>The envoy pointed out that India has always been the first to respond to Sri Lanka\u2019s call for help in facing natural disasters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen tsunami struck Sri Lanka in December 2004, India was the first to arrive with medical and other relief material. Indian naval doctors even set up a clinic in Galle,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n<p>Asked if he could indicate the quantum of aid that India plans to give, the High Commissioner said that it would be too early to give precise figures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll we can say now is that it will depend entirely on what the Sri Lankan authorities request for. But we can assure you that we will provide all the assistance that  Sri Lanka seeks,\u201d  he said.<\/p>\n<p>The envoy said that the deployed Indian naval personnel will work in close cooperation with the Sri Lankan authorities and the Sri Lankan navy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd once the task is done, they\u2019ll quit,\u201d he added, to assure Sri Lankans that the Indian armed forces personnel have come only to help the Sri Lankan government face a difficult situation, and when help is no longer  required, they will leave.<\/p>\n<p>INS Kirch, with around 125 personnel on board, offloaded supplies, including inflatable Gemini boats with diving teams, and a mobile medical team with supplies. The second ship, INS Shardul,  a tank landing ship, is carrying additional relief material including more inflatable boats.<\/p>\n<p>The third ship, INS Jalashwa, an amphibious transport dock, carries larger amounts of relief material .It is ideally suited for conducting Humanitarian Assistance  or Disaster Relief Missions.<\/p>\n<p>Immediately on arrival, the Indian naval medical teams fanned out into the disaster hit areas. In Kalutara, they set up medical clinics while relief workers distributed supplies like drinking water and food. The work was being done in collaboration with the Sri Lankan navy and local authorities.<\/p>\n<p><em>Courtesy:NewsIn.Asia<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"tweetbutton53278\" class=\"tw_button\" style=\"float:right;margin-left:10px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdbsjeyaraj.com%2Fdbsj%2F%3Fp%3D53278&amp;text=India%20Demonstrates%20Its%20Relevance%20and%20Importance%20by%20Responding%20First%20and%20Fast%20To%20Sri%20Lanka%26%238217%3Bs%20Appeal%20After...%20&amp;related=&amp;lang=en&amp;count=horizontal\" class=\"twitter-share-button\"  style=\"width:55px;height:22px;background:transparent url('https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-tweet-button\/tweetn.png') no-repeat  0 0;text-align:left;text-indent:-9999px;display:block;\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By P.K.Balachandran India\u2019s swift delivery of relief supplies and personnel to flood and landslide-hit Sri Lanka has re-affirmed its position as Sri Lanka\u2019s most relevant neighbor, and also its primacy as a power in the South Asian region. IndianNavy saving precious lives making sure no one is left behind #FloodSL @narendramodi @MEAIndia @SushmaSwaraj @DrSJaishankar @indiannavy &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=53278\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading &lsquo;India Demonstrates Its Relevance and Importance by Responding First and Fast To Sri Lanka&#8217;s Appeal After Floods Tragedy.&rsquo; &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53278"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53278"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53284,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53278\/revisions\/53284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}