On Tuesday, The Hindu quoted Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry saying that the country’s diplomatic mission in New Delhi and Cairo have approached the respective governments to help evacuate 41 Sri Lankans stranded in Sudan.
According to the Sri Lankan mission in Cairo, Egypt has “offered to provide passage from Port Sudan to Jeddah.”
India Scrambling to Evacuate Citizens
After ten days of fighting between rival military forces in Sudan, and as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and others are struggling to rescue their citizens from the war-torn region, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that the warring parties have agreed to a three-day ceasefire to allow evacuations of foreign nationals.
Indian Navy Ship INS Sumedha docks at Port Sudan for evacuation of Indian Nationals. India is undertaking operation Kaveri to evacuate its nationals from the war torn country.
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) April 25, 2023
Ctsy: Al Arabiya https://t.co/W4hIbvIWvV pic.twitter.com/hhyVnvXLL4
Meanwhile, Sudanese citizens have fled the fighting and evacuated to Chad, Egypt, and South Sudan.
On Monday, New Delhi’s French embassy said that Indians were among the 388 evacuations it facilitated from Sudan. It said that nationals of 28 countries were rescued in two military flights. The exact number of Indians evacuated is unknown.
Similarly, Saudi Arabia evacuated 66 citizens of “brotherly and friendly” foreign countries, which included India. Sources quoted by Telegraph India said that three Indians that were a part of a Saudi Arabian airline crew were evacuated from Khartoum.
Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) April 24, 2023
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. pic.twitter.com/8EOoDfhlbZ
In the meantime, India deployed two medium-lift transport aircraft in Jeddah on Sunday. A source quoted by Hindustan Times said that the authorities are looking to rescue citizens from a military base located an hour away from Khartoum.
A navy ship has also been positioned at a port situated in the midst of the violence, from where Indian nationals will be taken to Saudi Arabia and put on flights back to India.
Around 500 Indians have gathered at Port Sudan, located 800 kilometres from Khartoum.
Per a government’s statement on Friday, 3,000 Indians live in Sudan.
Other Countries Lead Efforts
Welcome the announcement of 72-hour nationwide ceasefire in #Sudan.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) April 25, 2023
We urge both sides to fully uphold it.
Aim of our collective efforts remain a permanent cessation of hostilities and the establishment of humanitarian corridors to protect civilians.
Saudi Arabia is playing a critical role in evacuation efforts in Sudan, given its close proximity to the strife-stricken country.
Meanwhile, the US has deployed its heavy-lift helicopters to rescue nationals and diplomats in Khartoum, given that the airport has been damaged in the fighting. On Tuesday, Washington said that it would work with regional and international organisations and civilian stakeholders in Sudan to help with humanitarian arrangements and bring an end to hostilities.
Pakistani authorities announced that 500 nationals rescued from Sudan will be brought back from Jeddah in special flights.
Several other countries are also working tirelessly to evacuate nationals.