Wednesday, January 12 2005 21:47 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: India's decision to handle the tsunami relief effort on its own was due to its capability and experience and not because of any false arrogance as focussing on foreign assistance in initial stages would have diverted attention from pressing concerns, Indian Ambassador to the US Ronen Sen has said.

The Indian Government's decision to decline international relief aid was neither an "insensitive response nor was it snooty or arrogant but a matter of capability, timely reaction and pride," Sen said in an interview to 'The Washington Post' published today (Jan 12, 2005).

"It is a fact," he pointed out, that the Indian Navy has the largest presence in the Indian Ocean and could respond within an hour in some cases.

"Our job was not to compete with anyone or make political points at a critical time but to mount search-and-rescue operations. Our first and foremost thought, our immediate motivation, was to rescue people. When someone is sinking in the water, you rush to help; you think later," Sen said.

Focussing on foreign assistance in the initial stages, he said, would have diverted attention from pressing concerns and distracted the national effort. "You forget, it was a matter of hours."

India, Sen said, deployed three hospital ships and 38 naval and coast guard vessels, a large number of helicopters and small and medium fixed-wing aircraft, and 15,000 service members and others to assist people affected by the tsunami in the country. It also provided aid to Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Maldives.

"Our practical experience with past cyclones and natural disasters showed that relief from outside accounted for much less than five per cent of the total effort.

"We know how to treat water-borne diseases which no one else knows about. We have one of the largest pharmaceutical industries producing medication at one-tenth of the cost overseas," Sen said.

He pointed out that when German authorities asked how they could help Gujarat after the earthquake in 2001, Sen, the then Ambassador to Germany, advocated reconstruction help rather than charity.

"People would like to come out of this with their heads held high," he said. "They don't want a handout, but don't prevent them from helping themselves."

Sen noted that Indian citizens have also contributed to the relief effort. "There have been donations from the north of the country in Kashmir to the southernmost tip, and that has been uplifting," he said, citing $ 100 million collected since December 27.

By last Thursday, he said, India had spent $ 250 million on rescue and relief within the country and provided $ 25.5 million to neighbouring countries.

The tsunami disaster, Sen pointed out, hit the poorest members of society most. "The multi-millionaires with tourist complexes have just been reduced to millionaires. The most vulnerable victims are the fishermen in the remote islands.

"Their homes, their means and tools of livelihood have been completely destroyed. We will look into the possibility of assistance (from abroad) once we draw up plans for rehabilitation," he said.