The Indian Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster heavy lift aircraft flew 246 Indians back from Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah after being evacuated from Sudan’s Khartoum region. The first batch of 360 Indians arrived in Delhi on Wednesday aboard a chartered flight.
Similarly, several Indian nationals are still being transported to Jeddah on naval warships from Port Sudan after being transported in buses from the country’s interior. Those evacuated from violence-torn Sudan chanted ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai,’ ‘Indian Navy zindabad,’ and other slogans after reaching safety in the presence of Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, who was overseeing India’s flagship evacuation mission, Operation Kaveri.
One of the evacuees, who was on board the heavy-lift aircraft en-route to Mumbai, thanked the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their assistance in getting them out of Sudan’s capital. The evacuee said before the C-17 Globemaster left for India, “We reached Jeddah and our jawans, who are our real heroes, provided us with complete hospitality and service.
Now we are going to Mumbai, our home. We all are very grateful of the Prime Minister and the entire country.” “It’s good to see you returning from Sudan,” the Union minister said to a group of Indians brought to the port in Jeddah. On board the military transport plane, he also met with the Indians.
According to foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra, over 1,700 Indian nationals have been evacuated from conflict zones in Sudan, and the government is working hard to get every citizen out of harm’s way as soon as possible.