‘Operation Kaveri’ is an ongoing mission launched by India to evacuate its citizens from Sudan amidst escalating violence due to clashes between the army and paramilitary forces in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. According to the External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, the evacuation process is currently in progress, with around 500 nationals having already arrived at strategic Port Sudan. The government has stationed two IAF C-130J transport aircraft on standby in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and the INS Sumedha naval ship at Port Sudan as part of its emergency measures to evacuate stranded Indian citizens. The security situation in Sudan remains volatile, with reports of fierce fighting in various locations in Khartoum. The movement of Indian citizens from Sudan would depend on the ground security situation, which is being closely monitored. India is coordinating with several partner countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and the US, to ensure the safe evacuation of its citizens. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had held a high-level meeting on Friday and instructed officials to prepare contingency plans for the evacuation of Indians from Sudan. The mission is the latest in a series of rescue missions undertaken by the Indian government to evacuate its citizens from regions of conflict and crisis situations.
Operation Ganga 2022
India launched Operation Ganga on February 26, 2022, following Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and brought back nearly 20,000 of its nationals in a massive rescue mission. To facilitate the evacuation process, a massive operation was undertaken, involving the deployment of Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft and embassy officials rushing to railway stations in Kyiv. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also set up a control room, in addition to control centres operated by Indian embassies, which functioned round-the-clock. After the operation concluded in March, officials reported that the MEA control room had attended to 12,582 calls and 9,131 emails according to data by March 7.
