NEW DELHI
\nIndia\u2019s government is grateful to Saudi Arabia for help in evacuating Indian nationals from Sudan, the foreign secretary said on Thursday, as the first group of evacuees reached New Delhi.
\nThe mass evacuation of foreigners has been underway since Monday as Sudan\u2019s warring factions \u2014 the army and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces \u2014 announced a 72-hour ceasefire.
\nMore than 3,500 Indians have been living and working in Sudan. To evacuate them, India launched on Monday Operation Kaveri. It has so far managed to relocate about 2,000 from fighting zones, and 600 of them have reached New Delhi since Wednesday.
\nSaudi Arabia\u2019s help has been key in the evacuation process.
\n\u201cWe are extremely thankful to them,\u201d Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said in a press conference in New Delhi.
\n\u201cWe have been working very closely with the government of Saudi Arabia, the leadership of Saudi Arabia. They have been extremely helpful, supportive, cooperative in the endeavor and we are extremely grateful to them for that.\u201d
\nFighting in Sudan, which erupted on April 15, has already killed at least 459 people and injured more than 4,000, according to the latest WHO estimates.
\nEvacuation efforts are complicated as people remain trapped in their homes, especially in the capital Khartoum and the Darfur region, with residential areas and airports becoming battlegrounds.
\nMost Indians have been evacuated by sea, through the port of Jeddah.
\nV. Muraleedharan, India\u2019s junior foreign minister, is in Saudi Arabia to coordinate the operation.
\n\u201cWe have received excellent support and cooperation from the Saudi government with regard to the arrangement in Jeddah and\u2026support in ensuring that incoming transit from Port Sudan to Jeddah is smooth,\u201d Kwatra said.
\nFor observers, the swiftness of evacuation and the amount of Saudi assistance India has received have further strengthened relations between the two countries.
\n\u201cSaudi Arabia\u2019s swift action to evacuate Indian citizens from Sudan not only showcases the country\u2019s commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of foreign nationals on its soil but also strengthens the already robust bilateral relations between the two nations,\u201d Mohammed Soliman, the director of the Strategic Technologies and Cyber Security Program at the Middle East Institute, told Arab News.
\nIt also \u201cspeaks volumes about the strength of the Indo-Saudi bilateral relations,\u201d said Muddassir Quamar, Middle East expert and fellow at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses in New Delhi.
\n\u201cThis is not the first time that Saudi Arabia has helped India in rescuing its citizens from a conflict zone,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cSaudi Arabia facilitated the efforts in Yemen in 2015 when India carried out Operation Raahat.
\nThe same bonhomie and cooperation are visible in Operation Kaveri now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI India\u2019s government is grateful to Saudi Arabia for help in evacuating Indian nationals from Sudan, the foreign secretary said on Thursday, as the first group of evacuees reached New Delhi. The mass evacuation of foreigners has been underway since Monday as Sudan\u2019s warring factions \u2014 the army and the paramilitary group Rapid Support […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-328170","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n