Another batch of 362 Indian evacuees from Sudan on Friday boarded a flight for Bengaluru from Jeddah in the presence of Union minister V Muraleedharan. This came as the tenth batch of 326 Indian evacuees from Sudan reached Jeddah by INS TARKASH, the Minister of State for External Affairs informed. Under its evacuation mission ‘Operation Kaveri’, India is taking the evacuees from Sudan to the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah from where they are returning home.
India has set up a transit facility at Jeddah and Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan is overseeing the evacuation mission from the Saudi Arabian city.
Under ‘Operation Kaveri’, the first batch of 278 Indians were evacuated from Port Sudan by the Indian Navy’s frontline ship INS Sumedha on Tuesday.
According to Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, the first C-130J aircraft brought to Jeddah 121 passengers while the second plane evacuated 135.
India began efforts to evacuate Indians from Sudan as a 72-hour truce was agreed to between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) following intense negotiations.
Sudan has been witnessing deadly fighting between the country’s army and a paramilitary group that has reportedly left over 500 people dead.
Earlier this week, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar on Monday announced the launch of ‘Operation Kaveri’ to bring back the stranded Indians from Sudan.
Before this, India on Sunday said it has positioned two transport aircraft of the IAF in Jeddah and naval ship INS Sumedha at Port Sudan as part of its contingency plans to evacuate the Indians.
Apart from the Sudanese authorities, the MEA and the Indian embassy in Sudan have been in regular touch with the UN, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and the US among others, news agency PTI reported.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chaired a high-level meeting and issued directions for the preparation of contingency plans to evacuate Indians from Sudan.
Last week, Jaishankar spoke to his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt on the ground situation in Sudan with a focus on ensuring the safety of the Indians. He also discussed the situation in Sudan with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
