PM’s interaction with NDRF personnel involved in ‘Operation Dost’ in Türkiye and Syria
Speaker: Narendra Modi
Date: 20 Feb, 2023

Many congratulations to all of you! You have returned after doing a great job for humanity. The entire team associated with ‘Operation Dost’, be it NDRF, Army, Air Force or other services, has done a wonderful job. Even our voiceless friends, the members of the dog squads, have shown amazing ability. The country is very proud of all of you. Friends, Our culture has taught us ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (The world is one family) and the verses from which these mantras are derived are very inspiring. अयं निजः परो वेति गणना लघु चेतसाम्। उदारचरितानां तु वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम्॥ That is, people with a broad mind do not differentiate. For them, the universe is a big family so everybody belongs to one family, and they serve only living beings considering them as their own. Friends, Be it Türkiye or Syria, the entire team has manifested these Indian values in a way. We consider the whole world as one family. If there is any crisis on any member of the family, then it is India’s religion and duty to provide immediate help to him. Irrespective of the country, if it is a matter of humanity and human sensitivity, then India keeps human interest paramount. Friends, What matters the most is how quickly the help is extended during natural calamity. There is a term ‘Golden Hour’ used during an accident similarly there is ‘Golden Time’ during natural calamity. How quickly the support team arrived. The swiftness with which you reached there after the earthquake in Türkiye has attracted the attention of the whole world. It demonstrates your preparedness and the efficiency of your training. The way you worked there for 10 days with full devotion is really inspiring. We all have seen those pictures, when a mother was blessing you by kissing your forehead or when an innocent life buried under the debris was in smiles again due to your efforts. In a way, you were also exposed to death there in the rubble. But I would also say that the whole country was brimming with pride with every picture coming from there. Along with professionalism, the spirit of human sensibilities by the Indian team is incomparable. It matters even more when a person is going through trauma or when someone is trying to regain consciousness after losing everything. The sensitivity with which the army hospital and its personnel worked in such circumstances is also commendable. Friends, The earthquake in Türkiye and Syria is many times more devastating than the one which hit Gujarat in 2001, which was considered to be the biggest earthquake of the last century. When the earthquake struck Gujarat, I was involved in rescue operations as a volunteer for a long time. There are so many problems from removing debris, finding people in the debris, the scarcity of food, medicines and hospitals etc. During the Gujarat earthquake, the entire hospital in Bhuj was completely destroyed. In a way, the entire system had collapsed. I have had the first-hand experience of it. Similarly, when the Machchu dam collapsed in Morbi in 1979, the entire village was swept away and the entire city of Morbi was devastated. Hundreds of people were killed. I remained there for months as a volunteer and was involved in the relief and rescue operations. Recalling my experiences, I can imagine your tremendous hard work, passion and your feelings there. While you were involved in the relief and rescue operations there, I could imagine your experience here. And therefore, I salute you today. Friends, The one who can help himself is self-sufficient, but when someone is able to help others, he is selfless. This applies not only to individuals but also to nations. Over the past few years, India has strengthened the identity of selflessness along with self-sufficiency. Wherever the Indian teams reach with the Tricolor, people are assured of help and the improvement in the situation. As you cited the example of Syria when an Indian Tricolor atop a box got upside down and one of the citizens there rectified it and claimed proudly that he thanked India with respect. We saw the same role of the Tricolor in Ukraine some time ago. India’s Tricolor became a shield for Indian citizens as well as people from many countries who were being evacuated from there. ‘Operation Ganga’ set a great example by becoming a hope for all. We brought back our loved ones safely from Afghanistan in very adverse circumstances under ‘Operation Devi Shakti’. We saw the same commitment during the Corona global pandemic. India took the initiative to bring back each and every citizen from foreign countries in that uncertain environment. We also helped many people from other countries. India also provided essential medicines and vaccines to hundreds of needy countries of the world. As a result, there is goodwill towards India across the world today. Friends, ‘Operation Dost’ also reflects India’s dedication to humanity and our commitment to immediately help countries in distress. India is found ready as a first responder wherever there is a disaster in the world. India was the first to come forward to help, be it earthquake in Nepal, crisis in Maldives or Sri Lanka. Now, apart from the country, the trust of other countries is increasing on the Indian forces as well as the NDRF. I am happy that NDRF has built a very good reputation among the people of the country over the years. The people of the country feel confident whenever there is any crisis or a cyclone and act in accordance with you. There is a sense of hope and faith among people when you and your colleagues in NDRF uniform reach any disaster-hit region whether it is a cyclone, floods or earthquake. This in itself is a great achievement. When sensitivity and human face is added to skills of a force then the strength of that force increases manifold. I would especially appreciate NDRF for this remarkable feat. Friends, The country is confident about your preparations. But we don’t have to stop here. We have to increase our relief and rescue capacity in times of disaster. We have to strengthen our identity as the best relief and rescue team in the world. Therefore, I was constantly asking you about the work culture, the style of functioning and the use of equipment when rescue and relief teams from other countries had come there, because on-field training sharpens our preparedness. We worked responsibly and for humanity, but we also learnt a lot from such a massive disaster. We also observe 10 new things while working in the midst of such a huge calamity. There we realize that we could have done it in a much better way, or we should follow the same practice being adopted by others. And it also increases our capacity. We discharged our responsibility for 10 days for the people of Türkiye. But there should be proper documentation of our experiences there. What new can we learn from that disaster? How to improve our capacity in the wake of such challenges? Now, for the first time, our daughters went there. The presence of our daughters also created confidence among the women there. They were able to openly share their complaints and pain. It was never thought earlier to trouble our daughters for such a difficult task. But this time, this decision was made to send our daughters there as well. Though it was a small number of daughters, this initiative was of huge help in establishing relations there. I believe that the better we prepare ourselves, the better we can serve the world. Friends, I believe that you have done a lot and have also learned a lot. What you have done has increased the honour of the country. If we institutionalize what you have learned, then we will create a new belief for the coming future. And I am sure that each one of you has a story and an experience to share. I would always enquire about your well-being because I was concerned about you due to extreme weather conditions there and there were no arrangements as such as it is not possible in such disaster-hit areas. But you have made the country proud by working in such adverse conditions. You also have learned a lot which will be useful in the near future. I once again congratulate you from the bottom of my heart. I know you have returned today only and you must be tired also. But I was in constant contact with you for the last 10 days and was enquiring about you. I was mentally connected with you, and therefore, I wanted to invite you here and congratulate you for such a great work. I once again salute all of you. Thank you!