New Delhi: The first batch of 360 Indians from crisis-hit Sudan arrived in New Delhi this evening under “Operation Kaveri”.
“India welcomes back its own. #OperationKaveri brings 360 Indian Nationals to the homeland as first flight reaches New Delhi,” tweeted Foreign Minister S Jaishakar, along with arrival pictures.
The evacuation comes days after Mr Jaishankar spoke to his Saudi Arabia counterpart. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday chaired a high-level meeting to review the security situation in Sudan.
“Operation Kaveri” is a rescue mission launched by the government to evacuate stranded Indian citizens from Sudan where the Sudanese Army and paramilitary groups are fighting.
The warring factions in Sudan agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire on Monday after the US and Saudi Arabia mediated the truce while countries are engaged in evacuating their citizens from the country.
Under its evacuation mission, India has set up a transit facility at Jeddah and all the Indians have been taken to the coastal Saudi Arabian city after their evacuation from Sudan.
Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan is in Jeddah to oversee the evacuation mission.
Earlier, on Saturday, Saudi Arabia said it has evacuated 66 citizens of “brotherly and friendly” foreign countries that included a few Indian nationals from Sudan.
Battles between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary since mid-April has killed at least 459 people and injured more than 4,000, according to the WHO.
The nearly two weeks of urban combat has sparked a mass exodus of foreigners, while the UN has warned a giant new refugee crisis could be brewing.
Foreign governments have frantically organised road convoys, aircraft and ships to get thousands of their nationals out of Sudan, and citizens have fled overland to neighbouring countries.
