Addressing his party MPs at a BJP parliamentary party meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday turned emotional as he condoled the deaths in the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria and recollected the 2001 Bhuj quake that claimed thousands of lives in Gujarat.

He recalled how the state government which was then led by him faced a series of challenges in undertaking relief and rescue operations in the quake-hit areas of Gujarat.

The PM said he could very well relate to what Turkey was going through in the aftermath of the quake and also spoke of the humanitarian assistance being provided by the Government of India to the disaster-hit people.

Meanwhile, India dispatched two planes to Turkey with relief materials for the quake-hit people. ”First Indian C17 flight with more than 50 @NDRFHQ  Search & Rescue personnel, specially trained dog squads, drilling machines, relief material, medicines and other necessary utilities & equipment reaches Adana, Türkiye,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.

Subsequently, the spokesperson tweeted: ”Second @IAF_MCC C-17 with self-contained @NDRFHQ teams including dog squads, search & rescue equipment, extrication tools and vehicles leaves for Türkiye. India continues to support the people of Türkiye in their hour of need.”

The Turkish Embassy in New Delhi tweeted: “First batch of earthquake relief material along with NDRF’s special search and rescue teams and trained dog squads just arrived in Turkiye. Thank you India for your support and solidarity.”

The aid from India was dispatched following a meeting yesterday presided over by P. K. Mishra, Principal Secretary to the PM. It was decided that the Search & Rescue Teams of NDRF and medical teams along with relief materials would be dispatched immediately in coordination with the Government of Turkey.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, meanwhile, spoke to his Syrian counterpart and conveyed India’s support for the quake-hit people. ”Contacted my Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad. Expressed solidarity and conveyed our support including through supply of medicines,” he tweeted.