India is ready with a contingency plan even as external affairs minister S Jaishankar stopped over in New York on his way to Latin American countries on Thursday, to discuss the Sudan situation with the UN secretary general.
The central government is making all efforts to coordinate the safety of Indian citizens stuck in Sudan. There are four reasons why Jaishankar is holding talks with the UN secretary general, with respect to the likely evacuation of Indian citizens.
First, to see if Indians can travel with UN staff or if UN can help India with evacuation or even acquiring basic supplies like food and water for those who are stuck. Second, India is also directly speaking to stakeholders in Sudan and the Indian embassy there is in touch with operational level commanders of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Army to figure out an opportunity to safely evacuate Indians.
Third, since US secretary of state Antony Blinken spoke about a ceasefire in a day, if that happens and forces can hold on then too evacuation and supplies can be initiated. The Eid ceasefire is one option but that would be too small a window to conduct operations at a large scale.
Fourth, help from Gulf countries Saudi Arabia and United Arad Emirates, as well as Egypt. India has sought help from these three countries as they enjoy greater influence over Sudan. During talks with these countries, their assessment of the entire situation was a focal point and whether they can offer support on the ground or India can use their assets for basic supplies.
Port Sudan city is considerably peaceful and could be a point through which evacuation can take place, if at all there is a possibility. As far as evacuation through neighbouring countries is concerned, it will be approximately 1,000 to 1,200 km from the mainland and there is a massive risk to life in travelling by road. In Ukraine, India evacuated its citizens through neighbouring countries but chances here are less and the situation is even more dangerous.
The area outside the Indian embassy is the worst-hit and even the staff is functioning from safer places. Government sources said this situation was worse than Afghanistan, as there was indiscriminate firing out on the streets.
The control room had received over 100 calls in the last few days, said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
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