First group of Indians under “Operation Kaveri” departs from Sudan

Operation Kaveri: Children are among the Indians who were evacuated from Sudan on board INS Sumedha.

New Delhi:- The first group of Indians who were stranded in Sudan have departed the country in a warship from the Indian Navy for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the foreign ministry announced today.

Arindam Bagchi, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, tweeted images of the Indians aboard the INS Sumedha. To express gratitude to the government for organising their evacuation, some people waved the national flag.

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“First group of stranded Indians under Operation Kaveri departs Sudan. “INS Sumedha departs Port Sudan for Jeddah with 278 crew members aboard,” Mr. Bagchi tweeted.

Children are also included in the group of Indians who were evacuated from Sudan, where fierce fighting has been occurring between the army and a paramilitary group.

As part of Operation Kaveri, India stationed two transport aircraft in Jeddah and the INS Sumedha in Port Sudan. Once in Jeddah, the Indians will be returned to their homes.

In the Sudan, there were about 3,000 Indians.

With reports of fierce fighting coming from several locations in the nation’s capital Khartoum, the security situation in Sudan is still unstable.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had instructed officials to create a backup plan to evacuate Indians from Sudan during a meeting on Friday of last week.

Despite a US-mediated agreement between the warring generals to halt hostilities for 72 hours in order to open the door for negotiations on a longer-term ceasefire, sporadic gunfire broke out in some areas of Khartoum today, according to news agency AFP.

Ten days of heavy fighting, including air strikes and artillery barrages, have killed hundreds of people, many of whom were civilians, and destroyed some areas of greater Khartoum.

However, the intensity of fighting has decreased in other areas since foreign governments dispatched road convoys, aircraft, and ships to evacuate their nationals over the weekend.

Forces loyal to Sudan army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan have clashed with those loyal to his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Two decades ago, President Omar al-Bashir unleashed the Janjaweed militia in the Darfur region, which led to war crimes accusations against Bashir and others. From that Janjaweed militia, the RSF was born.

The main civilian coalition that the two generals overthrew in a coup in 2021, the Forces of Freedom and Change, claimed the ceasefire would permit “dialogue on the modalities of a permanent ceasefire”.