NEW DELHI: Under ‘Operation Kaveri’, the first flight carrying Indian nationals evacuated from violence-hit Sudan landed in the national capital on Wednesday.
As the Indian nationals arrived in Delhi from Sudan, ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, ‘Indian Army Zindabad’, ‘PM Narendra Modi Zindabad’ slogans were chanted by them.
The New Delhi-bound flight with 360 Indians onboard left Jeddah Airport earlier today. The Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan saw them off at the Jeddah Airport.
“Happy to see off 360 Indians at Jeddah Airport in a flight bound for New Delhi They will be reaching the motherland soon, reuniting with their families Under #OperationKaveri the Government is working relentlessly to evacuate Indian nationals from Sudan & bring them home safely,” MoS Muraleedharan tweeted.
Sudan is experiencing bloodshed as a result of clashes between the army and paramilitary forces. Even though there is a 72-hour ceasefire, there have been allegations of violence, India has deployed its military planes and warships to rescue Indians from the North African country.
Speaking to ANI, an Indian national who returned from Sudan, Surender Singh Yadav said, “I went there for an IT project and got stuck there. The embassy and the govt also helped a lot. Around 1000 people are present in Jeddah. Govt is doing fast evacuation.”
As the special flight carrying 360 Indian evacuees from Sudan, landed in Delhi from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Indians expressed extreme happiness.
“Indian govt supported us a lot. It’s a big thing that we reached here safely as it was very dangerous. I thank PM Modi and Indian Govt,” another Indian national, who returned from Sudan told ANI.
Fighting has erupted between soldiers loyal to Sudanese army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, paramilitary Rapid Support Soldiers (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
Earlier, the INS Sumedha has already disembarked 278 Indians from there to Jeddah.
INS Tarkash is in the vicinity to take part in the operations there, according to Government sources.
Now, private carriers in India are also showing their willingness to operate charter flights from India to Jeddah for evacuation. India’s low-cost carrier Indigo has offered its services to the government regarding evacuation under Operation Kaveri.
Previously, France Embassy in India informed that their country has evacuated some Indians along with citizens of 27 other countries as part of its evacuation mission from violence-hit Sudan.
Earlier, on Saturday, Saudi Arabia said it has evacuated 66 citizens of “brotherly and friendly” foreign countries that included a few Indian nationals from the conflict-hit nation.
The evacuation came days after Jaishankar spoke to his Saudi Arabia counterpart. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday chaired a high-level meeting to review the security situation in Sudan. (ANI)