Another Plane Carrying 246 Indians Evacuated From Sudan Lands In India

New Delhi: An Indian Air Force plane carrying 246 Indians evacuated from war-torn Sudan landed in Mumbai on Thursday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said. The plane, which took off from Jeddah around 11 am IST, landed in Mumbai at around 3.30 pm, news agency PTI quoted an official as saying. Earlier on Wednesday, the first flight carrying 360 Indian evacuees from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia landed in Delhi.

Under its evacuation mission 'Operation Kaveri', India is taking the evacuees to the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah from where they are returning home. India has set up a transit facility at Jeddah and Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan is overseeing the evacuation mission from the Saudi Arabian city.

Another #OperationKaveri flight comes to Mumbai.

246 more Indians come back to the motherland. pic.twitter.com/So7dlKO0z6

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) April 27, 2023

"Our efforts to swiftly send Indians back home from Jeddah is paying. 246 Indians will be in Mumbai soon, travelling by IAF C17 Globemaster. Happy to see them off at Jeddah airport," tweeted Union minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan minutes before the plane left for Mumbai.

Our efforts to swiftly send Indians back home from Jeddah is paying.

246 Indians will be in Mumbai soon, travelling by IAF C17 Globemaster. Happy to see them off at Jeddah airport.#OperationKaveri. pic.twitter.com/vw3LpbbzGw

— V. Muraleedharan (@MOS_MEA) April 27, 2023

600 Indian Evacuees Reached Their Homes: Foreign Secretary

Earlier on Thursday, briefing reporters on the ongoing evacuation mission 'Operation Kaveri', Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said approximately 1,700 to 2,000 Indian nationals were moved out of the conflict zones and they included the citizens already evacuated out of Sudan as well as those who are on their way to Port Sudan from capital city Khartoum.

The foreign secretary said India has been in touch with the two warring factions in Sudan and other stakeholders and has been able to evacuate its citizens following a positive response from the concerned sides as they understand that New Delhi stands for a very strong development partnership with Khartoum.

He said "We are constantly monitoring the situation in Sudan since the conflict began on April 15. Our estimate is that there are approximately 3,500 Indians and 1,000 PIOs in Sudan." He further informed that around 600 Indian citizens have already reached India.

"We have received requests for the evacuation of citizens of other countries from Sudan. This is subject to the fulfilment of the procedures," he added.

Kwatra further informed that apart from INS Sumedha and INS Teg, the third naval ship INS Tarkash has also reached Port Sudan on Thursday to evacuate Indians from Khartoum.