ICRC delegates visited over 4,400 people detained in relation to the situation in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), and held within the State or in other parts of India, as well as 1,379 detainees arrested in the Maldives following political unrest. The visits were conducted in accordance with standard ICRC procedures.

Nearly 450 refugees living in India without identification papers were resettled in third countries using travel documents issued by the ICRC in coordination with IOM or UNHCR. The ICRC-facilitated family-visits programme enabled 53 inmates held far from home in India, and 18 detainees in Bhutan, to receive visits from relatives, some of whom travelled from Nepal.

Health and disaster management professionals and Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) staff in the region gained knowledge about how to tackle large-scale emergencies at a two-week Health Emergencies in Large Populations (HELP) course in India. Some 25 participants from Bhutan, India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Nepal, Timor-Leste and the United States of America attended the course. About 900 community members, teachers, students, paramedics and other representatives of civil society in seven states enhanced their knowledge of first aid at 26 ICRC-supported IRCS training sessions. Over 60 doctors, health ministry staff, IRCS personnel and NGO representatives in J&K were better prepared for emergencies after attending courses in emergency-room trauma care and/or basic life support, organized by the Directorate of Health Services with the support of the ICRC.

Close to 40,000 patients in India regained/improved their mobility after treatment at six ICRC-supported physical rehabilitation centres. One hundred children with clubfoot were treated in J&K. The ICRC launched the “Enable Makeathon”, a competition for developing innovative aids for people with disabilities. Nine states (four more than in 2014) participated in the national wheelchair basketball tournament, organized by Indian sports and social welfare agencies, with ICRC support, to promote the social inclusion of people with disabilities.

Some 20 senior editors from 10 Asian countries debated the media’s role in humanitarian action at a conference in New Delhi. Media professionals and journalism students in India improved their knowledge about humanitarian reporting and related ethical standards at national competitions and talks/workshops, including several organized by local Red Cross branches.

Officers and troops of the Indian Army bound for peacekeeping missions benefited from sessions conducted on humanitarian principles, and the work of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Additionally, military personnel from 10 countries participated in a regional seminar on peacekeeping and IHL, jointly organised by a peacekeeping training centre in India and the ICRC. Thirty participants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka furthered their understanding of IHL at the 27th South Asia Teaching Session on IHL, held in New Delhi.