India set up a transit facility in Jeddah and all Indians evacuated from Sudan were brought to the city in Saudi Arabia.
Published Date – Wed 26 Apr 23 at 01:30pm
New Delhi: Two military transport planes of the Indian Air Force (IAF) evacuated more than 250 Indians from Sudan after a naval vessel rescued another 278 citizens from the conflict-torn country.
According to official figures, the total number of Indians evacuated from Sudan so far is around 530.
Under its evacuation mission “Operation Kaveri”, India has set up a transit facility in Jeddah and all Indians evacuated from Sudan are brought to the Saudi Arabian city.
The first batch of 278 Indians was evacuated from the Indian Navy’s front-line ship INS Sumedha on Tuesday.
A few hours later, the first C130J heavy transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force landed in Port Sudan to pick up more Indians. It was then evacuated by another C130J.
According to Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, the first C-130J aircraft took 121 passengers to Jeddah, while the second evacuated 135 passengers.
“A second C-130 aircraft arrived in Jeddah with 135 passengers from Sudan.
Steady progress for #OperationKaveri,” he tweeted.
India has set up a control room in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah to facilitate the evacuation of Indians from Sudan.
Foreign Minister V Muraleedharan has arrived in Jeddah to oversee the evacuation.
India will take the Indians home from Jeddah on an IAF military transport plane.
Sudan has been witnessing deadly fighting between the country’s army and paramilitary groups over the past 12 days, with some 400 people reportedly killed.
India stepped up its efforts to evacuate Indians from Sudan after intense negotiations resulted in a 72-hour ceasefire between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Jaishankar on Monday announced the launch of the “Operation Kaveri” mission to bring back stranded Indians from Sudan, which has witnessed fierce fighting following a power struggle between regular and paramilitary forces.
India said on Sunday it had deployed two Indian Air Force transport planes in Jeddah and the naval ship INS Sumedha in Port Sudan as part of its contingency plans to evacuate Indians.
Apart from the Sudanese authorities, the MEA and the Indian Embassy in Sudan have been in regular contact with the United Nations, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and the United States among others.
In a high-level meeting on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued instructions on contingency plans to prepare for the evacuation of Indians from Sudan.
After the meeting, the Prime Minister’s Office said Modi directed officials to prepare emergency evacuation plans, taking into account the rapidly changing security situation in Sudan and the feasibility of various options.
Last week, Jaishankar spoke with counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt about the situation on the ground in Sudan, with a focus on keeping Indians safe.
On Thursday, Jaishankar discussed the situation in Sudan with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
