- Saturday, March 01, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
India on Friday (21) kicked off preparations for evacuating estimated 3,000 Indian nationals who are currently in different parts of Sudan where a fierce battle started between the military and the paramilitary force last Saturday (15).
Sources in the Sudanese government said more than 400 have been killed in the clashes while nearly 3,500 have been injured.
One Indian national was killed by a stray bullet in the capital city of Khartoum the day the violence erupted.
Reports said earlier this week that the Indian government was engaging in countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, the US and UK to ensure that Indian nationals are safe in the north African nation.
On Friday, prime minister Narendra Modi presided over a high-level meeting to assess the ground situation in Sudan with a special focus on the safety of the Indians. There, he instructed the officials to continuously monitor the situation and evaluate Indian nationals’ safety.
Modi’s meeting comes after the failure of a three-day truce called by the United Nations, US and other nations on Thursday (20) for the Eid festival.
The same day, Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson of India’s external affairs ministry, said in response to India’s evacuation plans that much would depend on how the situation is on the ground.
He said in a press briefing, “We are in readiness of taking multiple options. There are contingency plans. We are in close touch with our teams on the ground. But it will all depend on how long there is a pause in the fighting or a ceasefire; where it is happening, what is available in terms of locations where we can safely take people away.”
Pinarayi Vijayan, chief minister of the southern state of Kerala, has written to Modi urging him to ensure the safety and safe repatriation of Indian nationals, including those from Kerala, who are stranded in Sudan.
A massive political controversy broke out after Siddaramaiah, a leader from India’s opposition Indian National Congress accused the Modi government of doing little for the members of the Hakki Pikki tribe from the southern state of Karnataka who are stuck in Sudan. External affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar counter accused the leader, a former chief minister of Karnataka, of doing politics at which the grand-old party hit back at him.
