Younis Ahmad Kaloo

On September 14 this year, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out its latest task as part of its humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operation by airlifting tonnes of relief material to Bangladesh, which is witnessing a surge in Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar. India acted like a good friend and neighbour and under Operation Insaniyat, offered help to Bangladesh to deal with the humanitarian crisis. Since late August, nearly 400,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh.

The IAF positioned at short notice one of its C-17 Globemaster strategic heavy lift cargo aircraft in Delhi on September 13 to airlift 55 tonnes of relief material comprising daily necessities like rice, pulses, sugar, salt, cooking oil, ready-to-eat-meals, mosquito nets, and other important items. The aircraft was loaded overnight and flew early morning on September 14 to Kolkata to pick up additional material, which was then delivered in Chittagong in Bangladesh the same day. As scheduled, another C-17 aircraft followed with additional relief material to the country.

As one of its peacetime roles, the IAF assists the civil administration in dealing with natural calamities which demand immediate rescue and relief. “History shows that HADR is a capability that we (IAF) have been displaying for about 20 years now, starting largely with the Tsunami disaster in 2004,” says Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (retd).

When a 9.1 undersea earthquake on 26 December 2004 produced devastating waves, as high as 65-100ft across the world, India became one of the 14 countries affected. Of about 2,28,000 people killed in the Tsunami-hit countries, over 18,000 people lost their lives in India alone. The plight di