December 26, 2024, marked the 20th anniversary of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. It was also the day that former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who led India’s rapid, efficient and reliable response to the tragedy, passed away.
Dr Manmohan Singh dedicated his life to public service for both the welfare of India as well as the world, last serving the Government of India (GOI) as the country’s 13th Prime Minister (2004 to 2014). He was the first non-elected Member of Parliament to serve two consecutive tenures as Prime Minister, and the first non-Hindu to hold the chair.
Led From The Front, Quietly
The cause of the 2004 tsunami was a shift in a 1,200-kilometre section of the earth’s crust beneath the Indian Ocean. It caused a 9.0 magnitude undersea earthquake that released stored energy equivalent to over 23,000 Hiroshima bombs. More than 2,30,000 people died in the disaster across several countries.
Dr Singh was less than a year into his first stint as Prime Minister when the tsunami struck. It was part of his early morning routine to watch a BBC bulletin, and this is how he reportedly heard about the tsunami before the PMO had been officially informed, thus helping India mount an immediate response and take precautionary steps.
Ultimately, the world witnessed New Delhi going above and beyond, taking precautions not just for herself but also to “… help the affected get back on their feet as soon as possible”, as veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (who was the Task Force Commander of the team responsible for resurrecting the Andaman and Nicobar Command) wrote in his book 'A Few Good Men and the Angry Sea: 2004 Tsunami, the IAF Story'.
Speeds of 500 kilometres per hour were reached as the tsunami raged across the Indian Ocean, with the waves topping 20 metres in some of the worst-hit areas. The disaster resulted in nearly $10 billion in economic, infrastructural and human development losses, with 141,000 houses — accounting for 47.9% of the total damage — destroyed. Within 10 minutes of the earthquake, tsunami waves started to strike the Nicobar and Andaman Islands. Banda Aceh, Indonesia, was struck within another ten minutes. And within two hours of the earthquake, both Thailand and Sri Lanka had been hit. The east coast of India was hit shortly afterwards. Three hours after the earthquake, tsunamis rolled over the Maldives and more than seven hours later, hit the coast of Somalia.
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The Indian Response
New Delhi’s rapid response was shaped by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his administration. Addressing the tragedy, the PM stated: “I am deeply distressed by the large-scale devastation that has been wrought. My heartfelt sympathies are with the families of the bereaved, and with all those affected in our country. I have spoken to the chief ministers of the affected states, to assure them of all possible central support and assistance in the relief and rehabilitation effort. The defence and home ministers have been asked to alert the armed forces and paramilitary forces, who are already assisting in providing relief to all those who have been affected in the disaster.” Within hours, Dr Singh and his government approved Indian Navy and Indian Air Force (IAF) humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) missions to Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Indonesia.
Despite suffering catastrophic damage herself, India was among the first countries to respond, being the first responder in Sri Lanka.
As many as 32 Indian ships and 5,500 troops provided aid and assistance to the affected countries, marking India’s arrival on the world stage as a reliable and trustworthy first responder to such crises. It is said that true leaders are recognised in challenging times. New Delhi coordinated its response with other countries — especially the United States, Japan and Australia — and this eventually led to the formation of the Quad. In a way, therefore, Dr Singh’s efficient leadership very early in his first tenure as Prime Minister set the stage for India’s Indo-Pacific and HADR strategy. His phrase on the floor of the Parliament when presenting the pivotal Indian budget of 1991 works just as well for the Indian response to the 2004 tsunami: “Let the whole world hear it loud and clear. India is now wide awake. We shall prevail. We shall overcome.”
The Indian public and the world are largely in agreement on Dr Singh’s character and New Delhi’s leadership role as a first responder to the tsunami. When the former Prime Minister said, “I honestly believe that history will judge me more kindly than the contemporary media, or for that matter, the Opposition parties in Parliament did”, he was right. Dr Singh’s words demonstrate his quiet and unassuming confidence in himself, and the lack of regard for his media image. But, most importantly, they show his faith in the policies he was directly or indirectly involved with.
The writer is a 2024 Non-Resident Fellow at Irregular Warfare Initiative, a think tank.
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