Sri Lanka Navy honours vessels from India, other countries for disaster assistance

Colombo: Sri Lanka Navy on Thursday said eight foreign vessels, including two from India, have been honoured for providing assistance to the island nation after the Cyclone Ditwah disaster that saw over 600 deaths.

Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya personally expressed gratitude to a group of diplomatic officials of the countries concerned, Sri Lanka Navy spokesman Commander Sampath said here.

Widespread flooding, landslides and severe infrastructure collapse across the island nation severely strained the country's disaster-response capacity in the wake of the Cyclone Ditwah that hit Sri Lanka in November last week.

Aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and another ship INS Udaygiri of the Indian Navy were the first to get involved in the rescue and relief operations.

When Ditwah made a landfall on November 27, eight foreign naval warships had arrived here to take part in the International Fleet Review 2025 to mark the 75th anniversary of the Sri Lanka Navy.

Highlighting the spirit of global and regional cooperation, the Sri Lanka Navy had acknowledged -- in the immediate aftermath of the disaster -- the “invaluable support by foreign warships, extending much-needed Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations, during the recent weather disaster in Sri Lanka,” a release said.

“Due to the disaster-situation triggered by severe weather conditions across the island, foreign warships that arrived for the event were promptly redirected to support humanitarian efforts. Particularly, helicopters deployed from the Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier INS Vikrant,” it added.

India’s relief and assistance mission – Operation Sagar Bandhu – commenced on the very day that Cyclone Ditwah made landfall. INS Vikrant and INS Udayagiri delivered relief material.

Operation Sagar Bandhu delivered over 1,100 tonnes of relief material, including dry rations, tents, tarpaulins, hygiene kits, essential clothing and water purification kits.

About 14.5 tons of medicines and medical equipment were also provided. Yet another 60 tons of equipment was brought to Sri Lanka to assist the relief operations.

Several Mi-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force were active for a period of more than two weeks in Sri Lanka.

As of January 1, as many as 644 people have died and 175 are still missing since November 16, as landslides, floods and rainfall caused widespread destruction, data from the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) in Colombo showed.

India on December 23 announced a reconstruction package of USD 450 million for Sri Lanka, as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with the island nation's top leaders and assured Delhi's steadfast commitment to Colombo's rebuilding post-cyclone.

The assistance package will include USD 350 million in concessional Lines of Credit and USD 100 million of grants.