Under Operation Sagar Bandhu, the Indian Navy has intensified humanitarian assistance to cyclone-hit Sri Lanka by deploying four additional naval vessels carrying nearly 1,000 tonnes of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) material.
The newly deployed ships include INS Gharial, LCU-54, LCU-51 and LCU-57, tasked with supporting search and rescue (SAR) operations and delivering emergency relief supplies to the affected regions.
Earlier, INS Vikrant, INS Udaygiri and INS Sukanya had already delivered relief assistance and conducted heli-borne search and rescue operations in cyclone-impacted zones.
Relief Operations in Full Swing
The three Landing Craft Utility (LCU) ships reached Colombo on the morning of December 7, 2025, and handed over critical relief supplies to Sri Lankan authorities.
INS Gharial arrived at Trincomalee on December 8, 2025, to continue humanitarian support operations.
The large-scale deployment reflects India’s strong people-to-people ties with Sri Lanka and the Indian Navy’s commitment to providing timely humanitarian assistance to neighbouring nations in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
India continues to stand firmly with Sri Lanka in its disaster response and recovery efforts.
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