Deadly fighting has been taking place in Sudan between the army and a paramilitary group for the past 15 days. Many Indians have been evacuated from the country due to the conflict, with over 1,950 people already rescued by India. Deepak Agnihotri, who was working for an IT firm in Sudan since 2019, was among those evacuated. He said that he and seven others had been holed up in a basement room before getting an opportunity to escape the strife-torn nation. The group drove to Port Sudan and then took a boat arranged by their employer to reach Jeddah (in Saudi Arabia). From there, they boarded an Indian Air Force transport aircraft to return home.
India has set up a transit facility in Jeddah, and under ‘Operation Kaveri’, they are taking the evacuees there from where they can return home. The Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan is overseeing the evacuation mission. On Sunday, 229 people were brought home, while on Saturday, 365 people had arrived. 754 people arrived on Friday, 246 on Thursday and the first batch of 360 evacuees reached Delhi on Wednesday.
Agnihotri said that he had been in his apartment as the conflict broke out, but as supplies were dwindling, he moved to a room in the basement of his building with whatever he had. They had just enough water and gas to cook food to survive. He thanked the Indian government for bringing them back home safely and said that his wife had returned to India on March 31 as the situation was getting tense. He added that the condition is worsening in Sudan.
