Third Naval Ship Tarkash Deployed By India For Evacuation in Sudan

According to Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, India has sent its third navy ship, the INS Tarkash, to help with evacuation attempts in Sudan, which is now immersed in a civil war.

Regarding Operation Kaveri, which the Government of India started to release the captive Indians in the unrest-stricken Sudan, the Foreign Secretary made the above comments during a press briefing for the Ministry of External Affairs.

The third ship, the INS Tarkash, has also reportedly moored in Port Sudan as part of our efforts, according to his understanding, Mr Kwatra stated.

The Foreign Secretary told the reporters that two naval ships have also been placed as a part of the Government of India’s efforts to aid in the rescue operation in Sudan. 300 or so Indians were taken to port Jeddah by the first ship when it docked yesterday.

The INS Sumedha is back in Port Sudan to pick up and transport the second round of Indians to safe harbours.

He claimed that as part of its efforts to save Indians who are trapped in Sudan, the Indian government has set up control centres there as well as in India.

According to Mr Kwatra, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a high-level gathering where he assessed the predicament and directed Indian government officials to take the necessary actions to assist and repatriate these stranded people of India.

The Indian Air Force’s two C-130 aircraft have been mobilized and have been continually stationed in Jeddah since April 19, the foreign secretary stated. In addition, we’ve established controls control rooms are operational.

As a result, our embassy and two control rooms are operational. As a result, all operations are fully coordinated between the control room in Jeddah, our consulate and Mission in Riyadh, the control room team in Port Sudan on the northeastern coast of Sudan, and our embassy in Khartoum City.

To get the stranded Indians back, each of these three hubs naturally coordinates its efforts and strategy with the headquarters in Delhi, the speaker said.

Kwatra also provided information on the ongoing conflict and ceasefires in Sudan. He asserted that although several ceasefires have been established, many have already been broken.

There have been occasional reports of shootings. He asserted that the current state of affairs was still rather precarious.

Mr Kwatra remarked, putting aside worries about the number of Indians who might be detained in Sudan, “We assess that there are about 3500 Indians. These sums are approximations.

And I believe that roughly 300 people have already registered online, he added. Three hundred more people also interacted with the Mission’s embassies. The endeavour of the Indian government has been focused on common Indian citizens.

The foreign secretary said the external affairs minister, S. Jaishankar, also contacted the foreign ministers of the other significant friends whose citizens were also trapped in Sudan.

Among them were the foreign ministers of the US, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UK. Last night, they also spoke with the UK’s foreign minister.

To examine the situation and help the Indian government’s initiatives to repatriate Indians there, he recently discussed the Sudanese matter with the UN Secretary-General on April 20 in New York, according to Mr Kwatra.

Violence has occurred in Sudan due to clashes between the army and paramilitary groupings.

The Khaleej Times reported that more than 400 have died in the Sudanese civil war, prompting the declaration of a 72-hour ceasefire.

Reference: The Times of India, NDTV