India has evacuated 534 citizens so far from the crisis-hit Sudan in a 72-hour ceasefire. The first batch of 278 citizens arrived at a port in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah on board INS Sumedha under Operation Kaveri on Tuesday. The second and third batches of 121 and 135 citizens carried by IAF’s C-130J aircraft arrived on April 26.
The Government of India launched an evacuation mission for its citizens stuck in Sudan following the fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. It is looking to rescue more of its citizens from the strife-torn African nation. Under Operation Kaveri, India is taking the evacuees to the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah from where they are returning home. India has set up a transit facility at Jeddah. The Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan is supervising the evacuation mission from the city.
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 US, among others. At a high-level meeting on April 21, Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued directions for preparation of contingency plans to evacuate Indians from Sudan.
In a related development, the French embassy in India said that France has evacuated 388 people of 28 nationalities from Sudan, including Indian citizens.
