New Delhi: With street fighting intensifying the ongoing violence that has resulted in over 400 casualties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed officials to prepare contingency evacuation plans, while international requests for an Eid ceasefire remained unfulfilled.
The United Nations, along with US and others, had called for a three-day weekend ceasefire on account of Eid, but reports have continued to pour in of continuing gunfight in Sudan.
A week after the violence started, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, April 21, chaired a virtual meeting with the external affairs minister, national security advisor, Indian ambassador to Sudan, and other officials to “review” the security situation in Sudan.
The press statement noted that the Indian PM directed officials to prepare “contingency evacuation plans, accounting for the rapidly shifting security landscape and the viability of various options”.
During his meeting with the UN Secretary-General in New York on Thursday afternoon, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar backed the call for a ceasefire and the creation of safe corridors.
“The Prime Minister also emphasised the importance of maintaining close communication with neighbouring countries in the region, as well as those with significant numbers of citizens in Sudan,” said the government communique.
At the meeting, Modi got a first-hand briefing of the ground conditions, with focus on the safety of over 3,000 Indian citizens presently located throughout the country, as per the PIB press release. An Indian national died from a stray bullet in his house on Sunday.
This is the first time that the Indian government has given an indication of the size of the Indian community since the start of the violence. At the media briefing on Thursday, the MEA had refused to give an estimate of the community size due to “security reasons”.
India has issued several advisories that citizens should remain inside their homes and not venture out from their shelters.