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A group of 360 Indians arrived in Delhi after being evacuated from Sudan as India continues efforts to repatriate its citizens stranded in the violence-hit African nation.
India has repatriated nearly 1,100 citizens from Sudan in naval warships and military aircraft since launching its evacuation mission, Operation Kaveri, this week, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Thursday.
The citizens were taken by bus from various parts of Sudan to Port Sudan and were ferried in naval vessels before being flown in Indian military aircraft to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia in at least six batches.
Mr Kwatra said 360 Indians arrived on a chartered Saudi Arabia flight on Wednesday night.
"Another 246 are being flown to Maharashtra state on a commissioned C-17 flight," he said. "We have approximately 495 Indian nationals who are in Jeddah as of now. There are 320 Indian nationals who are in Port Sudan currently.
“The network line is from Khartoum to Port Sudan, Port Sudan to Jeddah, Jeddah to India, so we are trying to secure each point in this entire network of movement. We are co-ordinating with state governments for the onward movement of the Indians to the respective destinations.”
Sudan was home to about 3,500 Indians, as well as about 1,000 people of Indian descent from families that settled in the country decades ago, according to official data, before conflict left most of them stranded, Mr Kwatra said.
About 2,000 of them have already left the conflict areas and moved to safer zones while 42 citizens have moved to South Sudan.
Mr Kwatra said between 1,700 and 2,000 Indians have already moved out of the conflict zone, although the numbers are fluctuating as more of the scattered population approach the government.
The foreign secretary said the evacuation process was “complex and unpredictable” and transport was a constraint, but the government’s good relationship with all stakeholders in Sudan has helped in the repatriation of Indian citizens.
“We have been in touch with both sides, mainly because we generally have a good relationship with Sudan. We wanted to ensure that all the stranded Indians got out of the conflict zone on priority," he said.
“They have recognised that India stands for a strong development partnership with Sudan. They see Indians as good citizens who are there essentially to help [the] partnership between India and Sudan.”
Mr Kwatra thanked Saudi Arabia for its help in the evacuation mission.
India has sent military transport aircraft to Jeddah and set up a transit facility at a school in the city where the people evacuated are kept before flying back home.
“Saudi Arabia has been extremely helpful, supportive and co-operative in this endeavour,” he said.
“There have been evacuation requests from other nationalities too. From our side, we are willing to provide all possible assistance to everybody who approaches us, but this is subject to the fulfilment of all the procedures that may be required to be completed because there is a transit country involved, in this case Saudi Arabia.”
The news of the first batch arriving home safely was greeted with joy.
“My husband is not home yet but he is safe. He is on a ship to Jeddah," Sheetal, whose husband was stranded at a hotel in Khartoum, told The National.
"The Indian embassy and Indian government is really very supportive.”
