India has started the process of evacuating Indians from the northeast African nation Sudan which has been witnessing fighting between the country’s army and a paramilitary group for more than 11 days. In these clashes according to reports almost 400 people have been killed including one India.

MEA Statement

On Sunday in its official statement the MEA said that the government is pursuing multiple plans for the evacuation. And, two Indian Air Force C-130J are positioned on standby in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and INS Sumedha has reached Port Sudan.

On Monday, so far around 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan and more are on their way to board the INS Sumedha.

The evacuation plans were firmed up days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked officials to prepare contingency plans for evacuation of about 3,000 Indians stranded in Sudan.

According to the official MEA statement the government is closely monitoring the complex and evolving situation in Sudan and also coordinating with various partners for the safe movement of Indians and those keen to be evacuated.

Financial Express Online has reported that the MEA and the Indian Mission in Sudan are in close touch with UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and the US, the Sudanese authorities as well as the United Nations.

While the Sudanese airspace currently remains closed to all foreign aircraft, overland movement is risky too, MEA cautioned in its statement. The Indian mission is in touch with the Indians in Sudan through various channels and advising them on the viability of safe movement. It is also coordinating all possible assistance and this includes possible exit from Khartoum city.

Due to total breakdown of the essential services in Sudan, shortage of electricity, water and food has brought life to a standstill. There is looting of essential items by the rebel paramilitary and indiscriminate attacks on the residences of the Indians. The fighting also forced the Indian diplomats in the Embassy located in Khartoum to work remotely while they maintained contact with the members of the Indian community in the northeast African nation.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, Saudi Arabia announced that it had evacuated 157 people and this included Indian nationals. The Saudi naval forces carried out evacuation from Sudan with the help of other branches of the Army. There were nationals of Tunisia, UAE, Egypt, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Canada, the Philippines, Kuwait, Qatar and Burkina Faso who were evacuated along with Indians.

France helps in evacuating Indians

On Monday, according to the French embassy in New Delhi, 388 people from 28 countries, including India, were evacuated.

The Embassy tweeted: “French evacuation operations are underway. Last night, two military flight rotations evacuated 388 people from 28 countries, including Indian nationals.” However it did not specify the number of Indians evacuated.

Situation in Sudan

According to the United Nations Refugee agency thousands of Sudanese have left the capital city and many more are trying to flee the violence.  In the past few days 10,000 and 20,000 people have fled the African nation’s western Darfur region and have sought refuge in Chad. Chad is already hosting more than 370,000 Sudanese refugees from Darfur.