Operation Kaveri: First batch of 278 Indians leaves Sudan on board INS Sumedha
Operation Kaveri: The first group of Indians stranded in Sudan has left the conflict-hit nation in an Indian Navy warship for Saudi Arabia's Jeddah. Around 278 stranded Indian citizens who were caught in the conflict left Port of Sudan and are now headed towards Jeddah.
FollowThe Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday said the first group of Indians stranded in Sudan left the conflict-hit nation in an Indian Navy warship for Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah. The MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted photos of the Indians aboard the INS Sumedha.
The Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan is in Jeddah to oversee the evacuation process. India began evacuating its people who were caught up in the fighting on April 23 by sending two heavy-lift planes to Saudi Arabia and a ship to the coast of Sudan.
"First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under #OperationKaveri. INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah," Bagchi tweeted.
S. Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, said on Monday that 500 Indian people had arrived in the Port of Sudan and were awaiting evacuation.
India began "Operation Kaveri" on Monday to evacuate its citizens from Sudan, where there has been intense violence as a result of a power struggle between the regular army and a paramilitary group.
India said on Sunday that as part of its backup preparations to rescue the trapped Indians, it has stationed two IAF transport planes in Jeddah and the naval ship INS Sumedha in Port Sudan.
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Other countries are likewise rushing to rescue their people from the conflict-torn Sudan. The US and the UK declared that they had evacuated ambassadors via plane. Diplomats, their families, and even people from other nations were evacuated by France, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Italy, and Spain, among other countries.
On Tuesday, the first group of Chinese nationals left the war-torn Sudan. A military plane from South Korea would also be dispatched to extract its captive residents.
A 72-hour ceasefire has been declared by the warring factions in Sudan and foreign nations who have their citizens caught in the conflict are eyeing it as an opportunity to rescue their citizens.
The government had on Friday said it was focusing on the safety of over 3,000 Indian citizens currently located throughout Sudan. The deadly fighting between Sudan's army and a paramilitary group for the past 12 days has reportedly left around 400 people dead.
