Air Force, Navy On Standby: India's Plan To Evacuate Citizens From Sudan

India is actively looking at options of land routes to move its citizens stuck in intense fighting zones to safer places in Sudan, sources have told NDTV.

Violence broke out in capital Khartoum and across other regions in Sudan on April 15 between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

The former allies seized power in a 2021 coup but later fell out in a bitter power struggle.

As the airport is not functional in Khartoum, that is seeing the fiercest of fight, sources say, safe land routes are being explored. The land routes will be used to move them to safer zones first, which is priority.

Indian Embassy personnel will stay put as of now so as to be able to coordinate and assist in the operation, the sources added.

The government said that apart from the Sudanese authorities, the Indian Embassy in Sudan is also in touch with the UN, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, and US among others. It said it is coordinating with various partners for the safe movement of those Indians who are stranded in Sudan and would like to be evacuated.

"As part of our preparations, and in order to move swiftly, the Government of India is pursuing multiple options. Two Indian Air Force C-130J are currently positioned on standby in Jeddah. And, INS Sumedha has reached Port Sudan," the government said in a statement.

The US has temporarily suspended embassy operations in Khartoum and evacuated all its embassy personnel in an operation conducted by the Department of Defence.  

Under Secretary for Management Ambassador Bass said, "You may have seen some assertions in social media in recent hours that the Rapid Security Forces somehow coordinated with us and supported this operation. That was not the case. They cooperated to the extent that they did not fire on our service members in the course of the operation. I would submit that's as much in their self-interest as anything else."

More than 150 people from various nations reached Saudi Arabia a day earlier, in the first announced evacuation of civilians. Other than Saudis, it had nationals from 12 other countries, including India. The three Indians evacuated by Saudi Arabia were crew members of the Saudi Arabian airline that was shot at as the fighting began on the ground last week.

Foreign countries have said they are preparing for the potential evacuation of thousands more of their nationals, with South Korea and Japan deploying forces to nearby countries, and the European Union weighing a similar move.

In Khartoum, a city of five million, the conflict has left terrified civilians sheltering inside their homes, with power largely off amid sweltering heat and the internet cut for most, reported news agency AFP.

The UN World Health Organization said more than 420 people had been killed and over 3,700 wounded in the fighting across Sudan, but the actual death count is thought to be higher.