India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar tweeted today that the operation to evacuate its citizens from battle-torn Sudan is underway, adding about 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan.
The rescue operation has been named Operation Kaveri.
“Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way. Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assist all our bretheren in Sudan,” tweeted Jaishankar.
The Ministry of External Affairs yesterday announced that Air Force C-130J are on standby in Jeddah and INS Sumedha has reached Port Sudan to evacuate its nationals.
“We are also coordinating closely with various partners for the safe movement of those Indians who are stranded in Sudan and would like to be evacuated. Apart from the Sudanese authorities, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Sudan are also in regular touch with the UN, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, and US among others,” the MEA stated.
More than 150 people from various nations reached Saudi Arabia on Saturday, in the first announced evacuation of civilians. Other than Saudis, it had nationals from 12 other countries, including India. The three Indians evacuated by Saudi Arabia were crew members of the Saudi Arabian airline that was shot at as the fighting began on the ground last week.
Earlier today, France evacuated 388 people from 28 countries, including Indian nationals.
“French evacuation operations are underway. Last night, two military flight rotations evacuated 388 people of 28 countries, including Indian nationals,” tweeted the Embassy of France in India.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that all US personnel and their families had been evacuated and operations at the US Embassy in Khartoum have been “temporarily suspended.”
Violence broke out in capital Khartoum and across other regions in Sudan on April 15 between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The former allies seized power in a 2021 coup but later fell out in a bitter power struggle.
The WHO retweeted a post from Sudan’s Health Ministry saying at least 420 people had been killed and 3,700 injured in the fighting so far.
