Khartoum / New Delhi, 26 April (H.S.). The first batch of 278 Indian nationals has left for Jeddah from INS Sumedha under Operation Kaveri amid violence in Sudan. Along with this, during the 72-hour ceasefire in Sudan, necessary relief material was also provided to the stranded Indian citizens there.
According to official information, Operation Kaveri has been started to evacuate three thousand Indian citizens under Operation Kaveri. Another naval ship INS Teg has also reached the coast of Sudan. India has set up a control room in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah for the evacuation and delivery of relief materials to the stranded Indians in Sudan. Meanwhile, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan has reached Jeddah to supervise the evacuation mission.
Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a tweet that the first batch of 278 Indians stranded in Sudan under Operation Kaveri left for Jeddah from INS Sumedha. Indian citizens from Jeddah will be brought to the country by Indian Air Force aircraft.
In another tweet, Bagchi said that the second INS Teg has also reached the coast of Sudan to evacuate Indians. He said that INS Teg along with officials under Operation Kaveri has reached the Embassy Camp Office on the Sudan coast with necessary relief material to evacuate the Indian nationals. For the last 12 days in Sudan, 400 people have died in the fierce war between the army and the paramilitary group. India’s effort to evacuate Indians from Sudan has led to a 72-hour ceasefire agreed between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF).
Minister of State for External Affairs Muraleedharan said that necessary preparations have been made in Sudan and Jeddah to evacuate the Indians. On reaching Jeddah, he visited the control room set up here.
It is noteworthy that India started Operation Kaveri on Monday to evacuate its citizens from violence-hit Sudan. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said on Monday that Operation Kaveri has begun to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. Indian ships and aircraft are ready to bring Indians home.
