India has announced an immediate relief assistance of USD 1 million to Papua New Guinea in response to the volcanic eruption of Mount Ulawun, which erupted on November 20, 2023. The eruption forced evacuation of more than 26,000 people and created urgent humanitarian needs.
India and Papua New Guinea share a close friendly and developmental partnership under the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC). The assistance will help support rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in Papua New Guinea.
India also extended deep sympathy to the Government and the people of Papua New Guinea for the damage and destruction caused by the disaster.
The Ministry of External Affairs in its press release also stated that India has firmly stood by Papua New Guinea during times of crisis and devastation caused by natural disasters, as in the wake of the earthquake in 2018 and volcanic eruption in 2019.
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.
The volcanic eruption had forced people to leave and Island and evacuate to a safer place. Several flights were also cancelled following a huge blanket of smoke and ash cloud in the sky.
Papua New Guinea is on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a horse-shoe shaped band of volcanoes and fault lines circling the edges of the Pacific Ocean. One of the most active volcanoes in Papua New Guinea, Ulawun is a basaltic-to-andesitic stratovolcano on the island of New Britain. It has been erupting since at least 1700.
