India launches Operation Kaveri to bring back Indians stranded in Sudan

India has launched Operation Kaveri to repatriate stranded Indian citizens from Sudan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced through Twitter on Monday.

About 500 Indians had already arrived at Port Sudan, with more on their way, EAM Jaishankar said. He added that the government has assured that its ships and aircraft are prepared to assist in the evacuation of its citizens, reaffirming its commitment to providing aid to all Indians in Sudan.

Taking to Twitter, he wrote, “Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way. Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assist all our bretheren in Sudan.”

On Sunday, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said that as part of the backup preparations to evacuate the stranded Indians, the government had stationed two IAF C-130J transport planes in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah while a navy ship, INS Sumedha, had reached Port Sudan. The safety of the more than 3,000 Indian residents who are in Sudan is the Indian government's first priority, the MEA had said.

The north African country is currently going through a difficult time as a result of the civil war that has broken out in the country due to the tussle between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and , his former deputy and the leader of the potent paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The fighting, which began on April 15, has reportedly claimed the lives of approximately 400 people and continues to escalate. Last week, the MEA had described the situation on the ground in Sudan as very "tense", with reports of fierce fighting at various locations in capital Khartoum.

On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chaired a meeting to review the evolving situation and directed the preparation of contingency plans to evacuate Indian nationals from Sudan.

It may be recalled that India had launched a massive exercise, Operation Ganga, to evacuate Indians from Ukraine after Russia launched its military offensive on February 26, 2022.