Mumbai/New Delhi– India has launched “Operation Amistad” to deliver relief and medical assistance to northern Venezuela following the devastating earthquake that struck the region. As part of this humanitarian mission, two Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft have departed carrying a 41-member medical team, a field hospital unit, medicines, two BHISHM Cubes, and approximately 35 tonnes of relief supplies.
In the wake of two successive devastating earthquakes in Venezuela (measuring 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale), India has once again emerged as a global “first responder.” The Spanish word Amistad means “friendship.”
External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account on June 26, “Operation Amistad underway! Two Indian Air Force C17s took-off today for Venezuela with urgent assistance to support their post-earthquake relief efforts. The assistance contains an Indian Army Field Hospital Unit and over 35 tons of relief supplies, medicines and medical equipment, including two BHISHM Cubes. India is committed to support the Government and people of Venezuela in this difficult time.”
The Indian Army’s medical contingent departed from Hindon Air Force Station for Venezuela on Friday afternoon. The 41-member specialist medical team from the Indian Army’s renowned 60 Para Field Hospital includes nine military medical officers. The team is equipped to provide emergency treatment to the injured, trauma management, and perform complex surgical procedures in the disaster-affected areas.
The highlight of Operation Amistad is the deployment of two state-of-the-art, indigenously developed BHISHM Cubes, built under India’s Aarogya Maitri Project. A BHISHM Cube is a mobile, rapidly deployable modular field hospital that can become operational at a disaster site within minutes. Equipped with portable ventilators, surgical instruments, and oxygen support systems, it is capable of providing critical medical care to approximately 200 patients at a time.
This is not the first time India has emerged as a lifeline during an international disaster. Guided by the principle of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (“The world is one family”), India has carried out several successful international humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in the past. These include providing swift assistance during the devastating 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, following Cyclone Mocha in Myanmar, and extending rapid support to several other countries in times of crisis. Earlier, in 2015, India launched its largest-ever overseas civilian relief operation by deploying the Indian Air Force and Army to Nepal within hours of the devastating earthquake. During the COVID-19 pandemic, India supplied indigenously developed vaccines to more than 100 countries, either free of cost or at highly affordable prices.
According to various media reports, the earthquakes in Venezuela have so far claimed the lives of more than 235 people, while over 4,300 people have been injured. India’s assistance, travelling nearly 14,300 kilometres to reach the affected nation during this difficult time, reflects the deep bilateral ties between the two countries and reinforces India’s position on the global stage as a responsible and compassionate major power.
