India began rescuing its stranded citizens from Sudan after a violent conflict started in the African country ten days ago. India’s rescue operation named “Operation Kaveri” was announced by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Sunday, April 23rd, and it began evacuating Indians on Tuesday, April 25th, from Port Sudan.
The first batch of 278 stranded Indians were evacuated by the Indian Navy’s INS Sumedha from Port Sudan and taken to Jeddah under “Operation Kaveri”. Both Indian Navy and Indian Airforce (IAF) are executing the operation under the MEA’s monitoring.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted, “First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under Operation Kaveri. INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah (sic).” India has deployed a warship and two heavy-lift aircraft to evacuate its citizens stranded in the conflict-ridden country to Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah.
Bagchi tweeted that INS Teg has also joined “Operation Kaveri” and carried food and relief materials for the Indians stranded in Port Sudan.
In the second batch, 121 people were reportedly rescued from Sudan using Indian Air Force’s (IAF) C-130J aircraft from Port Sudan. They are also taken to Jeddah, from where they will be flown back to India. It’s reported that the third batch consisting of 135 Indians is also being rescued using IAF’s aircraft.
According to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, over 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan for evacuation. So far, 534 have been evacuated from Port Sudan under “Operation Kaveri” and it’s not known how many are still stranded there.
V Muraleedharan, the minister of state for external affairs is reportedly in Jeddah to oversee “Operation Kaveri”.
Sudan witnessed a massive conflict between the country’s ruling military ruler’s army and its paramilitary force on April 15th. So far, 400 people, including an Indian, are reportedly killed in the conflict.
“Operation Kaveri” is taking place within the 72-hour ceasefire announced by the warring parties to allow foreign countries to evacuate their stranded citizens. Earlier, the US, the UK, Germany, France, and Spain evacuated their diplomatic staff from Sudan. China and South Korea are also evacuating their citizens from Sudan amid the ceasefire.
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