India today announced an immediate relief assistance of $ 200,000 to support relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction efforts in the Kingdom of Tonga which was recently hit by a tsunami.
The tsunami on 15 January impacted large sections of the country’s population and caused significant infrastructural damage.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) today extended India’s deep sympathy to the Government and the people of the Kingdom of Tonga for the damage and destruction caused by this unprecedented disaster.
”As a close friend and partner under the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) and as a gesture of solidarity with the friendly people of Tonga, the Government of India extends an immediate relief assistance of US$ 200,000 to support relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in the Kingdom of Tonga,” the statement said.
India has firmly stood by Tonga during times of crisis and devastation caused by natural disasters, as during Cyclone Gita in 2018.
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management is an important pillar of India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans’ Initiative (IPOI) announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2019.