Last update: Apr 27, 2023, 01:13am IST
India has positioned two IAF transport planes in Jeddah and the INS Sumedha naval ship in Port Sudan as part of its contingency plans to evacuate Indians. (Image: MEA)
India has evacuated more than 650 Indian citizens from Sudan and is seeking to rescue more of its citizens from the conflict-torn country.
The fourth and fifth batch of stranded Indians have left Sudan for Jeddah as part of Operation Kaveri, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday as the mission to evacuate Indians from the war-torn African nation continued in full swing.
“#OperationKaveri continues. The fourth batch of stranded Indians leaves Port Sudan for Jeddah. IAF C-130J takes off with 136 passengers on board,” Arindam Bagchi, official spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tweeted.
“INS Teg leaves Port Sudan with 297 passengers. This is the fifth batch of Indians stranded on their way to Jeddah,” Bagchi said in a subsequent tweet.
India has evacuated more than 650 Indian citizens from Sudan and is seeking to rescue more of its citizens from Sudan before the end of a tenuous ceasefire between the regular army and a paramilitary force.
An Indian Air Force C-130J military transport plane brought 392 Indians to Jeddah from Port Sudan in three flights on Wednesday.
On Wednesday night, the first group of evacuees arrived in New Delhi from Jeddah on a commercial plane.
“India welcomes its own. #OperationKaveri brings 360 Indian citizens to homeland as first flight arrives in New Delhi,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweeted.
On Monday, Jaishankar announced the launch of ‘Operation Kaveri’ mission to bring back stranded Indians from Sudan. Under its ‘Operation Kaveri’ evacuation mission, India is taking evacuees from Sudan to the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah from where they return home.
India has positioned two IAF transport planes in Jeddah and the INS Sumedha naval ship in Port Sudan as part of its contingency plans to evacuate Indians.
New Delhi began evacuating Indians from Sudan both by sea and by air when fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum.
Despite high-level calls for a ceasefire, fighting between the warring parties continued until April 24.
The death toll from the conflict continues to rise, with more than 427 dead and more than 3,700 injured as of April 23, according to WHO reports.
Serious shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel and limited access to communications and electricity continue to be reported.
Several humanitarian organizations have evacuated or relocated their staff from locations where operations are currently not feasible due to insecurity.
(With PTI inputs)
read all latest news from india here
Discover more from PressNewsAgency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.