In a bid to assist Madagascar sail through the humanitarian crisis triggered by a severe drought, India is rushing an emergency supply of 1,000 metric tonnes of rice and 1,00,000 tablets of hydroxychloroquine to the island nation, reports Livemint.
External Affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar has assured his counterpart in Madagascar that as a maritime neighbour across the Indian Ocean, the Government and people of Madagascar can always count on the support and solidarity of the Government and people of India.
It should be noted that over the last few years, India has strengthened its credentials as an early responder in times of crisis in the neighbourhood, stepping up interactions in the Indian Ocean Region with nations like Maldives, Seychelles, Mauritius and Comoros besides Madagascar.
India will dispatch the supplies aboard the Indian Navy’s warship INS Jalashwa on 3 March. The supplies are expected to reach Madagascar’s Port of Ehoala between 21-24 March.
Before this, even in September 2018, India had dispatched an Indian Navy ship to Madagascar with a consignment of 1,000 metric tonnes of rice. Again in January 2020, India has dispatched INS Airavat to help Madagascar sustain the impact of Cyclone Diane under what was named Operation Vanilla.
Thereafter, in March 2020, again INS Shardul was dispatched to the island nation with 600 tonnes of rice to help deal with the impact of heavy floods in Northern Madagascar.
