Two Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft are enroute to Caracas carrying over 35 tonnes of relief supplies as part of what New Delhi has named Operation Amistad.
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar confirmed the mission on X, saying the package includes an Indian Army Field Hospital Unit, 6 tonnes of medical supplies and equipment – among them two BHISHM Cubes, India’s portable battlefield hospital systems – along with personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the 60 Para Field Ambulance unit of the Indian Army.
“India is committed to support the Government and people of Venezuela in this difficult time,” he wrote.
Operation Amistad underway!
Two @IAF_MCC C17s took-off today for Venezuela with urgent assistance to support their post-earthquake relief efforts.
The assistance contains an Indian Army @adgpi Field Hospital Unit and over 35 tons of relief supplies, medicines and medical… pic.twitter.com/Dcq8P065tp
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) June 26, 2026
The twin earthquakes struck on the night of June 24, near San Felipe in the state of Yaracuy, about 160 kilometres west of the capital Caracas. The first, a magnitude 7.2, was followed just 39 seconds later by a magnitude 7.5 mainshock – the largest earthquake to hit Venezuela since 1900.
Images showed flattened buildings and collapsed roads in Caracas, while the coastal area of La Guaira was hit particularly hard. Over 49,000 people were reported missing, and the USGS’s PAGER system warned the death toll could potentially exceed 100,000.
Acting President Delcy Rodriguez declared a state of emergency, shut the Caracas airport, suspended metro services, cancelled school and ordered gas supplies turned off to prevent explosions in collapsed buildings.
She also initiated a request for $200 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Tremors were felt as far as Colombia, northern Brazil, Aruba, Curacao and the Dominican Republic.
The scale of the disaster reflects Venezuela’s unstable geology. The country sits within a boundary zone between the Caribbean and South American plates, threaded by the active Bocono-San Sebastian-El Pilar fault system stretching over 1,300 kilometres.
