Operation Kaveri: Third naval ship INS Tarkash reaches Port Sudan for evacuation process

New Delhi: India has deployed the third naval ship INS Tarkash for evacuation operations being carried out in violence-hit Sudan, said Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Thursday.

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While addressing a media briefing of the Ministry of External Affairs on Operation Kaveri, he said, " I'm informed that the third shop, INS Tarkash has also reached Port Sudan today as part of our efforts."

The Foreign Secretary also updated the media on the progress of the effort to evacuate Indians who were stranded in Sudan. "The Indian Government has also deployed two naval ships," he declared. On Wednesday, the INS Sumedha transported about 300 Indians to Port Jeddah. It is currently returning to Port Sudan to board the subsequent batch of Indians.

He said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a high-level meeting where he personally reviewed and directed the officials of the Government of India to take appropriate measures to bring Indians back."

The Foreign Secretary added, "As part of our efforts, two Indian Air Force C-130 aircraft have been mobilised and are continuously positioned in Jeddah, and have been there since April 19. Additionally, we have established control rooms in Jeddah and Port Sudan. As a result, our embassy and two control rooms are in operation. The control room in Jeddah, our consulate and mission in Riyadh, the control room team in Port Sudan on the north-eastern coast of Sudan, and our embassy in Khartoum City are all working together as a full triangulation.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said that India evacuated nearly 1100 people from violence-hit Sudan under Operation Kaveri and is looking at rescuing more of its citizens from the strife-torn African nation before the end of the tenuous ceasefire between the regular army and a paramilitary force.
In its fourth round of operation that took place on Thursday (April 27), a C-130J military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force brought 128 more Indians from Port Sudan to Jeddah, taking the total number of people rescued to 1095.

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. The first batch of 278 Indians was evacuated from Port Sudan by the Indian Navy's frontline ship INS Sumedha on Tuesday.