India’s ‘Operation Kaveri’ in Sudan and other daring evacuation operations to save Indians

As a week-long crisis showed no signs of a truce, India launched "Operation Kaveri" in Sudan on Monday to evacuate its citizens from the violent African country.Over 3,000 Indians are reportedly stuck in Sudan's capital Khartoum as well as far-off districts like Darfur, according to the information that is currently available.Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar on Twitter announced, “Operation Kaveri gets under way to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way. Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assist all our brethren in Sudan.”In preparation for the mission, India had dispatched INS Sumedha to Port Said and stationed two C-130J heavy-lift aircraft in Jeddah, according to Hindustan Times.Due to the complete breakdown of basic services in Sudan, where a lack of food, water, and electricity had brought about a standstill, the evacuation seemed urgent.Indian nationals in the area were also in touch, sharing videos of the rebel paramilitary's indiscriminate attacks, which included targeted Indian community members' homes, and their stealing of necessities.For the unversed, the political unrest in Sudan escalated on 15 April into a national armed conflict when tensions over the Security Sector Reform (SSR) between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led to a shootout between their respective commanders, as per The Hindu.Numerous Indians who were trapped in Khartoum's airport due to the turmoil sought refuge in surrounding hotels as the fighting grew more intense.Eight days of fighting between the two armed forces have resulted in a humanitarian crisis that has killed 420 people and left millions of foreigners and Sudanese, including Indians, without access to even the most basic amenities.India has a lengthy history of successful evacuations.Indian nationals have been rescued during wars, natural catastrophes, and other tragedies.Let’s take a look.Evacuation missions during conflictsKuwait Airlift (1990) – KuwaitThe royals and VIPs fled to Saudi Arabia in 1990 as 700 tanks and 100,000 Iraqi soldiers invaded Kuwait. The common people had been abandoned and left on their own. More than 1,70,000 Indians were stuck in the country, according to CNBC-TV18.After diplomatic talks, India began the evacuation procedure on 13 August 1990, 12 days after the assault. The initial group of Indians returned home on Air India planes.The Indian nationals were transported back to their home country during the course of the following two months.It was hailed as one of the most successful air evacuation missions in history, and Air India registered itself in the Guinness World Record for the biggest air evacuation operation ever.[caption id="attachment_12502142" align="alignnone" width="640"]

From Yemen to Ukraine, these are India's most daring evacuation operations. Graphic: Pranay Bhardwaj[/caption]Operation Sukoon (2006) – Israel-Lebanon According to the report, in July 2006, as a war between Israel and Lebanon erupted, the Indian government launched "Operation Sukhoon" aka "Beirut Sealift," to evacuate its stranded residents.Since the evacuation from "Dunkirk," it was the largest naval rescue operation.Between 19 July and 1 August 2006, the task team evacuated 2,280 individuals, including some Nepalese and Sri Lankan citizens.Operation Safe Homecoming (2011) – LibyaIndia started "Operation Homecoming" in 2011 to rescue its nationals who were stranded in war-torn Libya.After 15,400 Indian nationals had been safely returned from Libya, Operation Safe Homecoming was declared complete.The Indian Navy and Air India carried out the air-sea action.Operation Raahat (2015) – Yemen The Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels were at war in 2015.The Indian government was in a bind as the nation was ripped apart by conflict.The Saudi Arabian no-fly zone left thousands of Indians stranded and prevented aviation travel to Yemen.India chose to evacuate its citizens initially by sea.Over the following few weeks, India rescued 960 foreign nationals from more than 41 nations in addition to 4,640 Indians who were trapped in Yemen, according to CNBC-TV18.After removing approximately 5,600 people from Yemen, the Indian government called an end to Operation Raahat.Brussels evacuation (2016) As per the report, terrorist attacks occurred in central Brussels' Maalbeek Metro station and at the Zaventem-based Brussels Airport in March 2016.More than 300 individuals were hurt, including 32 civilians and 3 terrorists. 28 crew members and 242 other Indians returned to India on a Jet Airways flight.Operation Devi Shakti (2021) – AfghanistanWith the assistance of the Indian Armed Forces, India evacuated hundreds of Indians from Afghanistan in 2021 as part of Operation Devi Shakti, according to Outlook India.Following the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the handover of Kabul, the country's capital, to the Taliban, hundreds of Indians were left stranded in Afghanistan.

The action took place after the Taliban and their allies had taken control of the area on 1 May 2021, just as the majority of American soldiers were leaving Afghanistan.Operation Ganga (2022) – UkraineWhen the Russian invasion of Ukraine left its major cities, including its capital Kyiv, under siege, India made prompt efforts to evacuate its citizens stuck in the war-hit country by launching 'Operation Ganga'."We will not rest till our fellow Indians are safe," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had tweeted.The Indian government started Operation Ganga to return Indians, primarily students, who were stuck in Ukraine home. More than a thousand Indians were successfully repatriated under this agreement.The Indian government responded to the developing situation quite quickly, sending out C-17 planes from the Indian Air Force and sending embassy personnel to Kyiv's train terminals.Indian embassies in nations like Poland organised buses for the students' safe departure, sent out C-17 planes, set up 24-hour control centres, and planned alternate train routes from western Ukraine's Uzhhorod to Budapest. The goal was to securely return its residents to their homes.Additionally, the Indian Tricolour helped stranded Indian, Pakistani, and Turkish students transit numerous checkpoints in the conflict-torn Ukraine safely.In order to oversee the evacuation operation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also dispatched Union Ministers Hardeep Puri, Kiren Rijiju, Jyotiradtiya Scindia, and General of Civil Aviation V K Singh to Poland and Romania.Rescue operations during natural disasters and the COVID pandemicOperation Maitri (2015) – Nepal The Indian government and the Indian armed forces collaborated on Operation Maitri, a relief and rescue effort in the wake of the 2015 Nepal earthquake.Within 15 minutes of the earthquake, India had launched the operation. It was the first nation to begin a formal rescue and relief effort.Over 5,000 Indians were returned from Nepal as part of a joint Army-Air Force operation using military and private aircraft, as per Outlook India. 170 foreign nationals were successfully expelled from the US, UK, Russia, and Germany by the Indian army.Operation Samudra Setu (2021) – Naval operation during COVID-19A naval operation called Operation Samudra Setu was started on 5 May 2020, as part of a national effort to bring Indian residents who were living abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic home.3,992 Indian citizens were successfully returned to the country via sea.This mission, which lasted more than 55 days and included travelling more than 23,000 kilometres by sea, involved the Indian Naval Ships Jalashwa (Landing Platform Dock), Airavat, Shardul, and Magar (Landing Ship Tanks), as per Outlook India.Operation Vande Bharat (2021) – Airlift operation during COVID-19The Centre started the Vande Bharat Mission to return home Indian nationals who were stranded abroad when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world.As of 30 April 2021, around 60 lakh Indians had been repatriated through the operation's various phases.The Centre reports that 18,79,968 Indians returned on planes operated by Air India and Air India Express, and another 36,92,216 used chartered flights.According to Moneycontrol, 5,02,151 Indians were repatriated via land border crossings while 3,987 were assisted in returning home by naval ships.With inputs from agenciesRead all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.