Indonesia to begin mass burials for earthquake, tsunami victims
Jakarta, Oct 1: Indonesian authorities will begin on Monday mass burials for hundreds of people killed in an earthquake and a subsequent tsunami that hit the Sulawesi island on September 28, as search and rescue efforts continued to find more victims and survivors.
The spokesperson for the National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB), Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said the mass burials will be held in the outskirts of Palu, one of the city most affected by the disaster where 821 of the 832 victims died, reports Efe news.
Sutopo said that the authorities decided to open the mass grave in order to bury the victims who have already been identified and to prevent the spread of disease.
Meanwhile, rescue teams continue to search for survivors and other victims under the collapsed buildings demolished by the 7.5-magnitude earthquake, which has left 540 people hospitalised and at least 16,732 others displaced.
The authorities are also working to restore basic services such as electricity supply in Palu, where several electric generators were deployed by a Hercules aircraft of the Indonesian Air Force to facilitate the process, according to the BNPB spokesperson.
The Palu airport was reopened to commercial flights on Sunday, but humanitarian aid flights will be given priority, according to the authorities.
The Indonesian Health Ministry is supplying additional medical personnel and equipment.
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India backs 'Myanmar-led, Myanmar-owned' peace process: EAM Jaishankar
New Delhi (PTI): India supports a Myanmar-led and Myanmar-owned peace process that can deliver lasting peace and development for all in the Southeast Asian country, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday.
The external affairs minister also highlighted the importance India attaches to its ties with Myanmar saying the country lies at the confluence of New Delhi's three key foreign policy priorities: 'Neighbourhood First', 'Act East', and MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions).
Myanmar is one of India's strategic neighbours and it shares a 1,640-kilometer-long border with a number of northeastern states including militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur.
The country has been witnessing widespread violent protests after the military seized power in a coup on February 1, 2021. The military-backed party secured a victory in Myanmar's recent general election.
Jaishankar was speaking virtually at the inauguration of the Sarsobeikman Literary Centre building in the heart of Yangon. The building has been constructed with New Delhi's assistance.
"As the world's largest democracy with 1.4 billon people living together in peace and harmony, India has regularly shared its experiences in federalism and constitutionalism with stakeholders in Myanmar," he said.
"We support an inclusive, Myanmar-led and Myanmar-owned peace process, that can deliver lasting peace and development for all in Myanmar," he added.
Jaishankar said the Sarsobeikman Centre will support the conservation and study of classical and folk literatures of Myanmar, as well as translation, archival work, creative writing, and scholarly exchanges.
"Myanmar lies at the confluence of our three key foreign policy priorities - Neighbourhood First, Act East, and MAHASAGAR including the Indo-Pacific," he said.
"Our multifaceted engagement, includes political, trade, security and cultural cooperation. When it comes to development cooperation, our engagement with Myanmar has been people-centric and demand-driven, aimed towards strengthening local economies and improving lives," the minister said.
Jaishankar said India and Myanmar have been bound together for centuries by spirituality, kinship and geography, as well as by language and literature.
"As Buddhism and Pali language and literature travelled across South Asia, they carried with them ideas, texts, and a shared intellectual heritage," he said.
