India’s Humanitarian Airlift/Sealift Operations.
Airlift and sealift operations are crucial for any country but for India, it is a level above due to the diverse range of temperature and topography: the burning hot desert in Western India, the burning cold desert in India’s High North, the humid coasts on the East and West and heavy monsoons in the dense jungle of the Northeast.
The past decade alone has seen India conduct Operations Ajay, Kaveri, Ganga, Devi Shakti, Vande Bharat Mission and Samudra Setu, Sankat Mochan and Rahat.
Operation Ajay: India initiated Operation Ajay on 11th October 2023, four days after Hamas attacked Israel. The aim was to secure and bring back all Indian citizens from Israel, with over 1,300 having been rescued via special flights.
Operation Kaveri: A few months before the Israel evacuation, India rescued nearly 4,100 citizens from Sudanese capital Khartoum on 24th April 2023. Two key factions of Sudan’s military regime had begun fighting: the Sudan Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, leading to 14,000 deaths and more than eight million displaced. The Indian evacuation also included 136 foreigners, with the entire group of evacuees requiring 18 Indian Air Force (IAF) sorties, five trips by Indian Navy ships and 20 commercial flights.
Operation Ganga: As Russian forces entered Ukraine on 24th February 2022, India initiated Operation Ganga two days later to rescue its nationals from Ukraine through its neighbouring countries i.e. Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. Ukraine’s Indian population is mainly students. In two months – February and March – India utilised 76 commercial and 14 IAF flights to bring back its citizens.
Operation Devi Shakti: Between August and December 2021, India evacuated nearly 700 people from Afghanistan, including Indians, Afghan Hindus and Sikhs. This operation was in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Kabul and the commencement of the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan.
Vande Bharat Mission and Operation Samudra Setu: COVID-19 hit the world extremely hard in 2020, with countries locking down their borders to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Between May and December 2020, more than 3.8 million Indians returned to the country by 24 special international flights as a part of the Vande Bharat Mission. The Indian Navy’s role included the repatriation of nearly 4,000 Indians from Iran, Maldives and Sri Lanka on its surface vessels, all in a span of 55 days.
Operation Sankat Mochan: With South Sudan going into civil war in July 2016, India’s Operation Sankat Mochan brought back 153 Indians and two Nepalese on IAF transport aircraft from South Sudanese capital Juba.
Operation Rahat: This Indian Navy operation evacuated more than 4,000 Indian nationals from war-torn Yemen during an active civil war. As Saudi-led coalition forces intensified their attacks against the Houthi rebels, Indian naval warships brought back thousands of Indians and foreign nationals from multiple Yemeni ports.
Conclusion
India should focus on capacity-building and expansion of supply-chains to ensure it continues to serve as the ‘first-responder of choice’ in the region. Civilian-military collaboration is the need of the hour as the civilian authorities have a better understanding of the resources available on the ground and the situation while the military has the platforms and manpower to get the job done.
