Some Indians stranded in Sudan were evacuated, Saudi Arabia helped on the request of Foreign Minister Jaishankar

Some Indians from violence-hit Sudan have reached Saudi Arabia safely. Although their exact number is not yet known. The Saudi Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that it has evacuated some citizens of its own and friendly countries from Sudan. There are many diplomats among them. According to the statement, 91 citizens of Saudi Arabia and 66 citizens of friendly countries have been evacuated safely. These include citizens of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Egypt, Tunisia, Philippines, Canada and Burkina Faso. Saudi Arabia is providing necessary facilities to all of them. This is being reported as the first official evacuation of foreign nationals since violence broke out in Sudan. A ship carrying all these reached Jeddah on Saturday. Saudi Arabia has helped to evacuate Indian citizens following the request of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Jaishankar spoke to Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Tuesday and urged the evacuation of Indian citizens.

Withdrawal expected in the coming weeks
Evacuation of foreign nationals from Sudan will now be possible. In fact, the conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Force (RSF) has been going on for the past one week over control of Sudan. Meanwhile, both the sides (Army and Paramilitary forces) have announced that they are ready for the evacuation of foreign nationals. Sudan’s military announced in a statement that it had agreed to assist in the evacuation of citizens and diplomats from several countries, including the US, UK, France and China. The statement said evacuations were expected to begin within the coming hours, according to CNN.

Fierce clashes in Khartoum a week ago
RSF announced on Friday that they are ready to partially reopen all airports in Sudan to air traffic to allow the countries to evacuate their citizens. A fierce battle broke out between the Army (SAF) and the Paramilitary Force (RSF) last Saturday. The SAF is led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan while the RSF is led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

Both sides announced a three-day ceasefire
SAF did the coup in October 2021. Since then he has been running the country through the Sovereignty Council. At the same time, the RSF considers itself part of the country’s army and wants to re-establish a civilian government in Sudan. In view of this, tension has increased between the two. Fighting continued in the capital Khartoum on Friday. However, SAF said it had reached an agreement with rival RSF for a three-day ceasefire to allow civilians to celebrate the festival of Eid al-Fitr. The RSF had earlier in the day announced a 72-hour ceasefire in view of Eid.

The most challenging evacuation situation ever from Sudan
Various countries including Germany, Japan, South Korea, Spain and the US were unable to evacuate the embassy staff, Al Jazeera reported. Khartoum’s airport is engulfed in violence and the skies are unsafe. According to one Western diplomat, the evacuation situation is by far the most challenging from Sudan. The US is focusing on a ceasefire so that its personnel can be evacuated.

Confirmation of the death of an American citizen amid clashes
Washington has said that American citizens living in Sudan should not expect their government’s coordination for evacuation. US State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said officials were in contact with hundreds of Americans believed to be in Sudan. The State Department confirmed the death of an American citizen there on Friday.

Saudi Arabia evacuates citizens of these countries
The Saudi Foreign Ministry announced that more than 150 people, including foreign diplomats and officials rescued from Sudan since the start of the fighting, arrived in Jeddah on Saturday. The ministry said in a statement that the evacuation was carried out by the kingdom’s naval forces with the support of other branches of the military. It announced the safe arrival of 92 Saudi nationals and around 66 other nationals from 12 countries. These countries include citizens of Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, Philippines, Canada and Burkina Faso.