Indian authorities on Tuesday scrambled to evacuate close to 3,000 Indian nationals from Sudan after the regular army and a rebel paramilitary force agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire, with Saudi Arabia becoming a key staging post for ferrying out stranded citizens. A small number of Indian nationals were evacuated from Sudan by Saudi Arabia and France over the past few days, and hundreds remain stranded in different parts of the country, mainly the capital Khartoum.
Indian authorities on Tuesday scrambled to evacuate close to 3,000 Indian nationals from Sudan after the regular army and a rebel paramilitary force agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire, with Saudi Arabia becoming a key staging post for ferrying out stranded citizens.
A small number of Indian nationals were evacuated from Sudan by Saudi Arabia and France over the past few days, and hundreds remain stranded in different parts of the country, mainly the capital Khartoum. About 600 Indians gathered at Port Sudan, the country’s main port located more than 800 km from Khartoum, and 278 of them were evacuated to Jeddah on the warship INS Sumedha on Tuesday afternoon.
“First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under #OperationKaveri. INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted. Soon after, a second Indian warship, INS Teg, with a capacity to carry about 350 people also reached Port Sudan and is expected to take the second batch of Indians to Jeddah.
Forces loyal to the Sudan Army chief, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his deputy-turned-rival, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who heads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), agreed on a 72-hour nationwide ceasefire from midnight on April 24.
For now, the Indian side is looking at the possibility of operating flights from military airbases located near Khartoum. “There is a military airbase located about an hour’s drive away from Khartoum and this is one of the options being considered,” the person said.
India launches ‘Operation Kaveri’
The government of India on Monday launched ‘Operation Kaveri’ to evacuate close to 3,000 Indian citizens stranded in Sudan, the African country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the operation at a public event in Kerala, saying he has asked junior external affairs minister V Muraleedharan to travel to the region to supervise the evacuation.
India had on Sunday stationed two Super Hercules C-130J aircraft in Jeddah, across the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia, to evacuate its citizens. According to diplomatic sources, five Indian nationals were among the 388 people who were evacuated by France in a military aircraft earlier on Monday.
“Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More are on their way. Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assist all our bretheren in Sudan,” tweeted Jaishankar.
According to UN agencies, more than 420 people have been killed and more than 3,700 injured in the fighting so far. Tens of thousands, including Sudanese and foreign nationals, have fled the country in the past few days, with many of them heading for Egypt, Chad and South Sudan.
There is an acute shortage of food, water, medicines and fuel in Sudan, leading to a spike in the prices of these commodities. Many areas in Khartoum are without electricity and have limited communications, including internet connectivity.