Operation Kaveri: India Launches Mission to Evacuate Citizens Stranded in Violence-hit Sudan | Key Points

India on Monday launched ‘Operation Kaveri’ to evacuate its nationals trapped in conflict-hit Sudan where clashes have erupted following a power struggle between the regular army and a paramilitary force. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the mission would be supervised by Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan.

Modi, addressing a massive crowd at the Yuvam Conclave in Kochi, said that a son of Kerala — Muraleedharan — would be overseeing the evacuation operation.

On Friday, the government said it was focusing on the safety of over 3,000 Indian citizens presently located across Sudan.

Here are some latest developments regarding the rescue operation launched by India for citizens trapped in Sudan:

• Union Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar, in a tweet, said that 500 Indians have reached the Port of Sudan and also shared two pictures of Indians waiting at the Port of Sudan. “Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way. Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assisting all our brethren in Sudan,” he said.

• Taking to Twitter, Muraleedharan said that he will be leaving for Jeddah to oversee our rescue efforts.

• On April 23, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that India sent two heavy-lift aircraft to Saudi Arabia and a ship to the coast of Sudan to begin the evacuation of Indian citizens who were caught in the conflict.

• On April 21, Prime Minister Modi chaired a high-level meeting and issued directions for preparation of contingency plans to evacuate Indians from Sudan. After the meeting, the PMO said Modi instructed officials to prepare contingency evacuation plans, accounting for the rapidly shifting security landscape in Sudan and the viability of various options.

• Last week, Jaishankar spoke to his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt on the ground situation in Sudan with a focus on ensuring the safety of the Indians. On April 20, he discussed the situation in Sudan with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

• India has been activating a contingency plan to evacuate people from Sudan once there is a brief lull in the fighting. “As part of our preparations, and in order to move swiftly, the Government of India is pursuing multiple options. Two Indian Air Force C-130J are currently positioned on standby in Jeddah. And, INS Sumedha has reached Port Sudan," the MEA said.

• France evacuated few Indians along with citizens of 27 other countries as part of its evacuation mission from Sudan. News agency ANI said that the French Air Force evacuated five Indians from Sudan through and brought them to France’s military base in Djibouti.

• Saudi Arabia has also evacuated who were part of the crew of a Saudi flight and stuck in Sudanese capital Khartoum.

• France and Germany on Monday said they evacuated around 700 people. Indonesia said so far more than 500 of its citizens had been evacuated to the port, and were awaiting transport to Jeddah. China, Denmark, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden also said they had got nationals out, while Japan said it was preparing to send an evacuation team from Djibouti, news agency Reuters reported.

• The US military evacuated 70 people, including staff and their families, from Sudan using six aircraft.

• The Armed forces chief General Abdel-Fattah Burhan and the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo have led their forces in a fierce clash against each other in a bid to take control of the resource-rich nation which is struggling to return to civilian rule but a series of coups has destabilised the nation’s society and economy.

• The clashes erupted on April 15 and at least 420 people have died and several thousands have been injured.

(with inputs from agencies)

Read all the Latest News here