India focusing on getting remaining citizens stranded in Sudan 'out of harm's way'

India has either moved to safer places or evacuated nearly half of its citizens from the conflict zones of Sudan, even as the situation in the Northeastern African nation worsened even before the ceasefire between the two warring groups of soldiers expired.

New Delhi is now focussing its efforts to get the remaining citizens of India stranded in the conflict zones of Sudan “out of harm’s way”, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Thursday. “The situation on the ground is very complex, highly volatile and unpredictable. We have been in touch with both the SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces) and the RSF (Rapid Support Forces). Our relations have been good,” he said in New Delhi, briefing journalists on the progress of “Operation Kaveri”, which India launched to evacuate its citizens from Sudan.

Kwatra said that India was in touch with all sides to get its citizens out from Khartoum and the other conflict zones in the country first to safer areas and then to Port Sudan for evacuation to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

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The Indian Navy has deployed its patrol vessel, INS Sumedha, as well as its frigates INS Teg and INS Tarkash to ferry the evacuees from Port Sudan – the main seaport of Sudan on the Red Sea – to Jeddah Islamic Port. The Indian Air Force (IAF) deployed two C140J aircraft to fly evacuees from Port Sudan to Jeddah.

The evacuees are being flown from Jeddah to New Delhi and Mumbai onboard chartered aircraft as well as the transport planes of the IAF.

Kwatra said that about 3100 Indians living in Sudan had registered with New Delhi’s diplomatic mission in Khartoum. Besides, an additional 300 had been in touch with the Embassy of India in the capital of Sudan, which had also been the home to about 900 to 1,000 PIOs (Persons of Indian Origins), added the Foreign Secretary.

"Our objective and target is to take the stranded Indians out of harm's way as early as possible...Our effort is to get every stranded Indian out of harm's way and into an area of relative safety and then to Port Sudan and back here (India)," said the Foreign Secretary.