Why in News?
India has started ‘Operation Kaveri’ to evacuate its nationals owing to the Current Crisis in Sudan.
Around 3,000 Indians are stuck in various parts of Sudan, including the capital Khartoum and in distant provinces like Darfur.
Why is Sudan currently experiencing a crisis?
Sudan has been experiencing violent clashes for the past 12 days between the country’s armed forces and a paramilitary group, resulting in an estimated 400 fatalities.
Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, who heads the armed forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group rooted in Darfur’s Janjaweed militias, fueled the conflict through a power struggle. Both generals are vying for control of Sudan.
This violence follows a military coup two years ago in which Burhan and Dagalo collaborated to overthrow longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir, halting the country’s transition to democracy that had begun after protesters ousted al-Bashir in 2019. Negotiations had been ongoing to resume the democratic transition, but the recent clashes have derailed these efforts.
What is Operation Kaveri? Know all about India’s evacuation mission of its nationals from Sudan.
India launches Operation Kaveri to evacuate its nationals from violence-hit Sudan.
The Indian government, to evacuate its nationals from violence-hit Sudan, launched ‘Operation Kaveri .’External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India’s ships and aircraft are all set to evacuate stranded Indians from Sudan. Jaishankar, in a tweet, stated, “Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan—more are on their way. Our ships and aircraft set to bring them back home. Committed to assisting all our brethren in Sudan.”
India has conducted a series of evacuations over the last few years, known as Operation Kaveri, to rescue its nationals in crisis-hit countries. India rescued its residents the previous year from war-hit Ukraine and Afghanistan. Through this operation, India aims to bring back around 3,000 of its citizens presently located in Sudan.
India has positioned two transport aircraft of the IAF in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah and a naval ship at a critical port in Sudan as part of its contingency plans to evacuate its stranded nationals. On Sunday, several Indian citizens were evacuated by French aircraft.
According to the embassy, Several Indians were included in the 388 people taken to safety by France on Sunday night. “French evacuation operations are underway. Last night, two military flight rotations evacuated 388 people from 28 countries, including Indian nationals.” the tweet read.
As reported by ANI, French Diplomatic sources stated that a French Air Force flight evacuated five Indian nationals from Sudan and transported them, along with individuals of other nationalities, to France’s military base in Djibouti.
