The second group of 121 trapped Indians departed the Port of Sudan for Jeddah on Tuesday as part of “Operation Kaveri,” a few hours after India evacuated the first batch of Indians from Sudan.
“Aboard IAF C-130J aircraft, the second group of 121 stranded Indians departs Port Sudan for Jeddah. Arindam Bagchi, the spokeswoman for the ministry of external affairs, tweeted that there will be another sortie.
A three-day truce looked to be holding in the conflict-torn African nation as the naval ship INS Sumedha, which evacuated the first batch of 278 Indians, hurriedly pushed in crucial relief supplies for its remaining trapped residents.
As a result of a battle for dominance between the regular army and the RSF, the Sudanese government on Monday declared the beginning of Operation Kaveri, a mission to rescue the Indians who have been stuck there.
As part of its backup preparations to evacuate the Indians, India has stationed two IAF transport planes in Jeddah and the navy cruiser INS Sumedha in Port Sudan.
Tuesday saw the successful docking of the INS Sumedha by the Indian Navy with 278 people on board, and Jaishankar praised the Saudi Arabian government for its complete assistance.
Operation Kaveri progresses. The INS Sumedha, carrying 278 people, docks at Jeddah. Jaishankar tweeted, “Thank HH @FaisalbinFarhan and Saudi Arabian authorities for their entire cooperation.
The first batch of Indians evacuated from Sudan was met by Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, who had previously traveled to Jeddah to supervise the evacuation effort.
“We are pleased to welcome 278 Sudanese citizens from India aboard INS Sumedha in Jeddah Port. I'm happy H.E. Mazin Hamad Al Himly, the Saudi Director General of MFA's Jeddah Branch, has joined me. Thank the Saudi government for the great assistance in Jeddah,” Muraleedharan tweeted.
Separately, INS Teg, the second ship of the Indian Navy, docked at Port Sudan to transport additional Indians back home as part of New Delhi's mission “Operation Kaveri,” which was established to evacuate some 3,000 Indians from Sudan.
India has established a control center in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah as part of Operation Kaveri to enable the evacuation of Indians from Sudan.
Indian military transport planes of the Indian Air Force are scheduled to fly the Indians back to India from Jeddah.
The Sudanese army and a paramilitary organization have been engaged in deadly combat for the last 12 days; it is estimated that 400 people have died in total.
As a 72-hour cease-fire was reached after protracted talks between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), India intensified its attempts to remove the Indians from Sudan.
The citizens stuck in Sudan were evacuated, according to the Indian Navy, who claimed that their mission-deployed destroyer INS Sumedha was redirected.
The MEA and the Indian embassy in Sudan have maintained frequent contact with a number of organizations in addition to the Sudanese government, including the UN, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and the US.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave instructions for the creation of backup plans to remove Indians from Sudan during a high-level meeting on Friday.