Another flight carrying 231 Indian passengers evacuated from conflict-torn Sudan reached New Delhi on Saturday.

The Indian evacuees shouted slogans like “Bharat Mata ki jai,” and “Vande Mataram” and also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for rescuing them from Sudan under Operation Kaveri.

One of the Indian passengers shared the tough humanitarian crisis faced by them in Sudan. “It has become very difficult to stay in Sudan due to ongoing conflict. There is a shortage of food and drinking water, moreover, there are continuous bombings, and rockets are being fired. None of us were coming out of our houses. The food canteen was bombed. It is very difficult to flee also, travelling in the vehicle is also not safe, they can bomb buses too,” said an Indian electrician from Buxar, Bihar evacuated from Sudan.

He lauded Operation Kaveri and said that his evacuation from Sudan was like “re-birth” as he had lost hope to survive. “If it had not been PM Modi and EAM Jaishankar none of the Indians could have come here alive. From the deep of my heart, I want to thank them. Bharat Mata ki jai, Modiji Zindabad,” he added.

He also praised the Indian Army which aided their safe transit from Port Sudan to Jeddah. “When I saw them at Port Jeddah, we felt secure and knew that we will reach India alive. Jai Hind, Jai Bharat,” he added.

Meanwhile, a little girl named Aiysha evacuated from Sudan also shared her experience and thanked the Indian Government. “I feel relaxed. The situation in Sudan was ‘boom, boom, boom.’ I was scared, and so was my Mom and Dad.

Thank You, Indian Government for supporting and helping us” she said.

“#OperationKaveri moves further. 231 Indian reach home safely as another flight reaches New Delhi,” tweeted Jaishankar.

“I have been staying in Sudan for the last 15 years. This is the first time we faced such a dire situation. It was very scary, they launched a rocket at my house. We requested Indian Embassy to evacuate us. They helped us and we went to Port Sudan and Indian Navy carried us safely. Navy officers were very helpful. When we reached Jeddah, we got good air service. Indian Government supported us in the time of the need, we are very happy and thankful to the government,” said Mohammed Iqbal Hussain, project engineer in a pharmaceutical company in Sudan.

Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Garud Commandos carried out a daring, overnight operation to air-lift stranded Indians despite the airstrip in Sudan’s Wadi Seidna having no navigational approach, aids or fuel, and landing lights (that are required to guide an aircraft landing at night).

On the night of April 27, 28, 2023, the IAF C-130J aircraft rescued 121 personnel from a small airstrip at Wadi Seidna, which is about 40 km North of Khartoum, Sudan, the IAF said in a statement.

Hussain said that situation in Sudan is not going to normalize soon. “It will take very long and now Khartoum is finished, they are going back 20 years. They cannot reconstruct like that, bearing heavy losses,” he added.

“I am feeling very relaxed after coming back to India, was under trauma for the last 14 days and was very scared due to my little girl. Even our houses were not safe, were always in constant fear that bullets can hit us from anywhere, were doubting whether we will be able to meet our family. I would like to thank Government of India from the core of my heart because they supported us in such dire conditions,” said another Indian evacuee.

On Friday, Mos MEA V Muraleedharan informed that so far, 2,100 Indians have arrived in Jeddah, as part of ‘Operation Kaveri’.

Sudan is experiencing bloodshed as a result of clashes between the army and paramilitary forces. Even though there is a 72-hour ceasefire, there have been allegations of violence.

Fighting has erupted between soldiers loyal to Sudanese army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, paramilitary Rapid Support Soldiers (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

Committed to ensuring that no Indian national is left behind in Sudan, India has deployed its military planes and warships in the war-torn country.