INDIA. Mumbai: The first batch of 278 Indians stranded in conflict-hit Sudan left for Jeddah aboard Indian Navy warship Ship INS Sumedha under “Operation Kaveri” on Tuesday, according to a Defence PRO.
Arindam Bagchi, the official spokesman for the Union Ministry of External Affairs, announced the news on Twitter. He tweeted, “First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under Operation Kaveri. INS Sumedha, with 278 people onboard, departs Port Sudan for Jeddah.”
According to images and a five-second video shared by the official spokesperson, the evacuated individuals could be heard chanting “Jai Hind”. The images also show them waving the tricolour flag to express their gratitude to the government for organising their evacuation.
India has sent two heavy-lift aircraft to Saudi Arabia to evacuate Indian citizens who are caught in the conflict.
S Jaishankar, India’s external affairs minister, announced on Monday that 500 Indian citizens had arrived at the Port of Sudan and were awaiting evacuation.
Fighting broke out on April 15 between the commander of the armed forces, General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, resulting in close to 400 fatalities and numerous injuries.
While a 72-hour ceasefire has been declared by the warring factions in Sudan, other nations, including the US, the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, have evacuated diplomats and their families.
On Tuesday, the first group of Chinese nationals left the war-torn Sudan. A military plane from South Korea would also be dispatched to evacuate its captive residents.
V Muraleedharan, the union’s state minister for foreign affairs, is anticipated in Jeddah to supervise the evacuation operation.
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