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This is an archive article published on April 27, 2023

‘Operation Kaveri’: Around 2,000 Indians out of Sudan conflict zone, situation there volatile, says foreign secy

Earlier this week, the Navy’s INS Sumedha evacuated 278 Indians from Port Sudan. This was followed by the evacuation of 121 and 135 passengers on two sorties of the IAF’s C-130J Super Hercules aircraft.

Sudan Indians Operation KaveriForeign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said 600 Indian nationals have either arrived back in the country or are on their way. (Twitter/ DrSJaishankar)
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‘Operation Kaveri’: Around 2,000 Indians out of Sudan conflict zone, situation there volatile, says foreign secy
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Approximately 1,700 to 2,000 Indians have been safely moved out of the conflict zone in Sudan so far this week, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said on Thursday.

These include people who have reached India as well as those waiting at Jeddah in South Arabia and Port Sudan, and those on way to Port Sudan from various locations of Khartoum and surrounding areas.

“Our effort is to get every stranded Indian out of harm’s way to an area of relative safety, and from there to Port Sudan and back here,” Kwatra told the media during a briefing on the progress of ‘Operation Kaveri’.

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Up to 2k Indians out of Sudan conflict zone, situation volatile: Foreign Secy People evacuated from Sudan arrive at Mumbai airport on Thursday evening. (Express photo by Amit Chakravarty)

Earlier this week, the Navy’s INS Sumedha evacuated 278 Indians from Port Sudan. This was followed by the evacuation of 121 and 135 passengers on two sorties of the IAF’s C-130J Super Hercules aircraft.

On Wednesday, 297 Indians sailed out on INS Teg. The two C130J aircraft placed there evacuated another batch of 264 Indians to Jeddah, taking the number of Indians evacuated on these aircraft to 520.

While INS Sumedha has gone back and docked at Port Sudan, a third naval ship — INS Tarkash — has also been deployed as part of the evacuation operation, Kwatra said.

The Foreign Secretary said 600 Indian nationals have either arrived back in the country or are on their way. He said around 360 Indians arrived by a chartered Saudi Arabian flight to India on Wednesday night and another 246 people are being flown to Maharashtra by a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft of the IAF.

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Flight Lieutenant Har Raj Kaur Boparai, the first and only woman pilot to fly the C-17 aircraft, is part of the mission.

Approximately 495 Indians are currently in Jeddah and around 320 Indians are in Port Sudan, even as additional buses are moving from Khartoum to Port Sudan, it was informed. Forty-two Indian nationals have been moved to South Sudan for evacuation, he said.

Kwatra said there are approximately 3,500 Indian nationals and 1,000 people of Indian origin in Sudan, concentrated in pockets of Khartoum city. They have presence in other cities such as Omdurman, Al Fashir, Kassala and Port Sudan, he said.

Port Sudan is 850 km northeast of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, which has been hit by a conflict since April 15. It takes 12 to 18 hours to travel to Port Sudan from Khartoum.

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Kwatra said the situation in Sudan is being constantly monitored ever since the conflict broke out between Sudanese armed forces and the country’s Rapid Support Forces on April 15.

“The situation on ground remains highly volatile, with conflicting reports of claims from both sides,” he said. He said India has been in touch with both sides to ensure safe evacuation of people from Khartoum.

One Indian national, identified as Albert Augestine, was reported killed in Sudan after he was hit by a stray bullet. His family has been brought back to India.

Kwatra said ever since the fighting in Khartoum began, the embassy alerted and reached out to the Indian community in Sudan and issued advisories, and started an online registration process despite risks of power outages and network availability. He said roughly 3,100 Indians have registered online and 300 are in touch with the mission there.

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Kwatra said Minister of State for MEA, V Muraleedharan, is in Jeddah to receive the stranded Indian nationals coming in from Port Sudan, and that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had spoken with his counterparts from key partners such as the US, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UK over, as well as the Secretary General of the UN, on the issue of bringing back stranded Indians from Sudan.

Kwatra said there have been evacuation requests from other nationalities as well. “We are willing to provide all assistance to everybody who approaches for such assistance,” he said.

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