NEW DELHI: After the US managed to negotiate a 72-hour ceasefire in Sudan, many countries including India have spruced up their efforts to evacuate its citizens.
"The first batch of Indians evacuated from Sudan port have boarded INS Sumedha and are headed to Jeddah. There are 278 Indians on board this ship and there are close to 250 more who will be ferried to Jeddah," according to the Ministry of External Affairs. This exercise is called Operation Kaveri.
Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan, has flown to Jeddah to oversee the evacuation process.
"I express my profound gratitude to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, for making a part of Operation Kaveri to bring back stranded Indians safely from Sudan," said Muraleedharan.
On arrival in Jeddah, Muraleedharan visited the control room set up to facilitate evacuation and also ensured that necessary infrastructure was in place both in Sudan Port and Jeddah.
"Team is in full readiness on the ground," Muraleedharan said in Jeddah.
Two Indian Air Force aircraft are parked in Jeddah to bring the Indians back to India. C130J aircraft has a capacity of 300 people so a few sorties would have to be made to India to bring the people back.
It is too early to say how the entire evacuation process would be undertaken, but the Indian government and allied agencies are working in full swing to get Indians back.
There are close to 3000 Indians stranded in Sudan. There are few buses available as there is a shortage of fuel and people are braving it to reach Sudan Port.