
India’s Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Diplomacy: Evolution, Operations and Strategic Significance (2023)
When a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on 6 February 2023, killing over 50,000 people and flattening entire cities, India was among the first countries on the ground. Within 12 hours, the Indian Army had assembled rescue teams and relief materials. Within 24 hours, Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft were landing at Adana with National Disaster Response Force personnel, dog squads, and a mobile hospital. India named this mission Operation Dost, "friend" in Turkish, Urdu, and several regional languages, a name that carried deliberate diplomatic meaning.






