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NEW DELHI: The first batch of stranded Indians was evacuated from conflict-hit Sudan under Operation Kaveri on Tuesday. A total of 278 people departed from Port Sudan onboard INS Sumedha for Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, said a spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs.
India launches ‘Operation Kaveri’ in Sudan, about 500 Indians reach Port Sudan for evacuation
The evacuation comes a day after the MEA announced that India had launched an operation to bring back around 3,000 Indians stranded in Sudan. External affairs minister S Jaishankar had said that around 500 citizens have already reached Port Sudan.
“Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. We are committed to assisting all our brethren in Sudan,” Jaishankar had tweeted. The MEA had said in a statement that India has also positioned two IAF C-130J on standby in Jeddah.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the operation is being supervised by MoS for external affairs V Muraleedharan.
Describing the security situation in Sudan as complex and evolving, the Centre on Sunday had said it was pursuing multiple options to evacuate the 3,000 Indian citizens stuck in the country.
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Op Kaveri: India begins evacuations from violence-hit Sudan
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<p>Op Kaveri: India begins evacuations from violence-hit Sudan</p>
<p>India on Monday launched ‘Operation Kaveri’ to evacuate its nationals from violence-hit Sudan. Foreign minister S Jaishankar said India’s ships and aircraft are set to bring Indians back home.</p>
<p>”Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way,” Jaishankar tweeted.</p>
<p>The government had on Friday said it was focusing on the safety of over 3,000 Indian citizens presently located throughout Sudan.</p>
<p>Jaishankar said that the Indian government is in continuous touch with its citizens stuck in Sudan.</p>
<p>India’s decision to deploy the Super Hercules military transport aircraft followed the high-level meeting PM Narendra Modi chaired on April 21</p>
<p>Sudan has been witnessing deadly fighting between the country’s army and a paramilitary group for the last 11 days that has reportedly left around 600 people dead.</p>
<p>Earlier, the French Embassy in India informed that their country has evacuated some Indians along with citizens of 27 other countries as part of its evacuation mission from violence-hit Sudan.</p>
<p>On April 22, Saudi Arabia said it has evacuated 66 citizens of “brotherly and friendly” foreign countries that included a few Indian nationals from the conflict-hit nation.</p>
<p>The US military managed to airlift on Sunday close to 100 embassy staffers from Khartoum.</p>
<p>Both the Sudanese army and its rival paramilitary force have apparently agreed to not block the airlift by foreign nations.</p>
India’s decision to deploy the Super Hercules military transport aircraft followed the high-level meeting PM Narendra Modi chaired on April 21 in which he asked officials to ready contingency evacuation plans. India had used the C-130J earlier also for Afghanistan evacuation.
Some Indians were evacuated from Sudan during operations launched by other countries, including Saudi Arabia and France, for their own citizens.
(With inputs from agencies)
Watch India begins ‘Operation Kaveri’ to evacuate Indians stranded in Sudan
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