As the special flight carrying 360 Indian evacuees from Sudan, landed in Delhi from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Indians expressed extreme happiness….report Asian Lite News
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.
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.
INS Teg departs from Port Sudan with 5th batch of 297 passengers
The fifth batch of 297 stranded Indians departed from Port Sudan for Jeddah in Saudi Arabia by INS Teg on Thursday.
“#OperationKaveri INS Teg departs from Port Sudan with 297 passengers. This is the fifth batch of stranded Indians enroute to Jeddah,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted. Earlier on late Wednesday, the MEA informed about the fourth batch of 136 stranded Indians that left Port Sudan for Jeddah in Saudi Arabia onboard an IAF C-130J aircraft.
“#OperationKaveri continues. 4th batch of stranded Indians departs from Port Sudan for Jeddah. IAF C-130J takes off with 136 passengers on board,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.
The fourth batch of another 136 stranded Indians, aboard the IAF C-130J aircraft, left strife-torn Sudan on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan, received the previous batches of the evacuated Indians as they reached Jeddah airport on Wednesday.
Earlier, the naval vessel INS Sumedha reached Jeddah port with 278 evacuated passengers.
As the fighting between the Sudanese Army and paramilitary groups intensified in the capital Khartoum, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar informed on Monday that its ‘Operation Kaveri’ to evacuate its citizens from battle-torn Sudan is underway and about 500 Indians had reached Port Sudan.
India launched “Operation Kaveri” to bring back stranded Indians from the war-torn country.
Indian Navy’s INS Teg on Tuesday joined ‘Operation Kaveri’ to further facilitate the ongoing evacuation of Indians stranded in Sudan. The frigate on Tuesday arrived at Port Sudan with additional officials and essential relief supplies for stranded Indians, a senior MEA official said.
“INS Teg joins #OperationKaveri. Arrives at Port Sudan with additional officials and essential relief supplies for stranded Indians,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted on Tuesday.
“Will boost ongoing evacuation efforts by Embassy Camp Office at Port Sudan,” Bagchi added.INS Teg is the fourth Talwar-class frigate constructed for the Indian Navy.
In a recent development, warring factions in Sudan have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire on Monday after the US and Saudi Arabia mediated the truce while countries are engaged in evacuating their citizens from the country. (ANI)