India launches 'Operation Amistad' to aid earthquake-hit Venezuela

📌 Summary:

• India launched 'Operation Amistad' to provide humanitarian assistance to earthquake-hit Venezuela
• Two IAF C-17 Globemaster aircraft departed carrying relief supplies and a 41-member rescue team
• The Ministry of External Affairs said "India stands shoulder to shoulder with the government and people of Venezuela" during the crisis
• The mission continues India's record of disaster-relief diplomacy (HADR) following earlier operations in neighbouring and partner countries

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 — disaster management and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR); GS2 — India's soft power and disaster diplomacy as instruments of foreign policy

📝 Prelims Facts:

• 'Amistad' means "friendship" in Spanish
• IAF C-17 Globemaster III is a heavy-lift strategic transport aircraft used in HADR missions
• Venezuela is in South America; capital Caracas
• India has previously run HADR ops such as Operation Dost (Turkey-Syria earthquake, 2023)

🔑 Key Term: HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief) — rapid deployment of relief, rescue and medical aid by armed forces/agencies to disaster-affected regions, often as an instrument of diplomacy