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There are over 200 countries in the world and it is often said that in order to maintain harmony among all of them, everyone should share and distribute resources as per their capacity instead of hoarding them and letting other parts of the world struggle. There are some countries which have ample amounts of resources and some which don’t have much or are still underdeveloped due to various reasons. All of these situations often lead to the need for help which some countries might seek from the better-off ones. As the covid pandemic wiped off a major chunk of the population in countries like Italy, some struggled to provide food on their plate and some are still under the haze of economic crisis. India has been a country which always takes a stand for such countries which need its assistance in every possible way. One of the major examples is the current crisis going on around the world in countries like Sri Lanka, which is suffering from its worst economic crisis and India is assisting it with food and medicines and Ukraine, which is in the middle of a war with Russia and India is assisting it with medical help as well. This article is going to discuss Operation Sanjeevani, which is also a kind of assistance given by India to the Maldives.
Operation Sanjeevani
The Maldives is an Island nation and often suffers a lot of natural calamities, especially tsunamis which disrupt life and other important activities there. The country is majorly sustained by tourism and during the covid, its economy was totally disrupted due to a global freeze in tourism. During this very same time, Maldives experienced a severe lack of medicines and other medical goods needed for the treatment of people in the widespread pandemic, which left none. At the request of its neighbour, the Indian government airlifted the goods to the country, which was executed in the name of operation sanjeevani.
This mission was executed by the Indian Air Force, which conducted an 18-hour long operation of airlifting over 6 tons of medical goods and equipment required for the medical aid of Maldives. The major reason behind the involvement of IAF in this mission was the lack of any other method as the country was in complete lockdown and any kind of movement was totally restricted. The drugs which were to be transported were first hauled from Madurai, Chennai, New Delhi and Mumbai and later on airlifted with the help of C-130 Cargo aircraft. Since the medicines were needed to fight with the covid pandemic, major medicines such as Lopinavir, Ritonavir and the goods such as influenza vaccines, various medical equipment such as nebulizers and urine bags were provided. Other than this, many medicines from diseases such as diabetes, allergies as well as cancer were transferred. Other than this, a highly skilled team of 14 doctors is also dispatched to look after the people of the island nation.
India has been of great help to the Maldives in this time of crisis and has been a proud neighbour helping it in every way possible. Not just medical goods, but India also evacuated around 9 citizens of Maldives fromChina during the peak of covid waves.
India- Maldives Relations
India and Maldives share great bilateral relations with each other and have been on great terms since the time of Maldives independence in 1965. There are many kinds of contracts between the two which work in favour of both. Some of the key aspects and points of this relationship between the two countries are discussed below.
India gained independence before the Maldives did and it has been a major supporter of the island nation, offering it help wherever needed. One of the major things is the contribution of India awards to the development of Maldives. Indira Gandhi Memorial hospital is one of those which was made in the year 1986 after the visit of former prime minister Rajeev Gandhi to the Maldives. One of the major educational institutions made by India in the Maldives is the Faculty of Engineering Technology which has the capacity to train 200 hundred students at once.
One of the major roles which India has played in the growth of Maldives is its disaster assistance towards the tsunami-prone country. India has been the first country to rush towards the help of its Island neighbour and provide it with medical relief. One of the major examples of this is the 2004 tsunami which hit the Island nations and India worked as much as it could to help in its recovery. India has looked after providing the country with economic as well as military support whenever the Maldives needed it.
Conclusion
India has provided every kind of help to the island nation since the time of its independence, right from providing its infrastructure help to medical help and even military support. India has made a major contribution towards the development of its neighbour and operation sanjeevani is one of them. India as a country never held back from providing every kind of assistance to the Maldives, even during the time of a global pandemic when the whole world was in a major economic crisis and this has strengthened the relations between the two countries.
