156 Indians evacuated from S. Sudan
The first batch of people arrived in India on Friday on board an Indian Air Force ( IAF) C- 17 ‘ Globemaster’ aircraft, highlighting the successful execution of ‘ Operation Sankat Mochan’
The first batch of 156 people, including nine women and three children, evacuated from wartorn South Sudan, arrived in India on Friday on board an Indian Air Force ( IAF) C- 17 “Globemaster” transport aircraft, highlighting the successful execution of “Operation Sankat Mochan”, even as about 300 Indians employed there refused to return. While 156 who turned up were evacuated, about 30 to 40 people are expected to return soon by commercial flights. An Indian embassy advisory at Juba apparently said, “Nationals should rest assured that additional flights will be pressed in service if required,” indicating that the Indian Government would try its best to evacuate more Indians even at a later stage if they chose to return.
“When we landed, 156 came out with us. There were 30- 40 people who had already booked their tickets when the commercial flights started and 300 people did not want to be evacuated due to their business concerns and other activities. There are nine women and three children among those evacuated,” minister of state for external affairs Gen. V. K. Singh ( Retd), who was leading the evacuation efforts, was quoted as telling saying. On those who turned down the government’s plea to be evacuated, Gen. Singh said, “We tried to convince them. I suppose business comes first, life comes later ( for them)....”, he was further quoted as saying. “After fighting broke out in Juba and its outskirts, our aim was to evacuate our people who were in danger. As per our information, there were 550 plus people in Juba itself with another 150 Indians in areas where the oil wells are,” he said, adding that he had also met the vice- president of South Sudan. The evacuation exercise faced a hurdle when several Indians, after registering with the MEA for leaving South Sudan, refused to return, despite an appeal by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Twitter asking them to move out. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday also hailed the efforts of the external affairs ministry and the defence ministry, the IAF, Air India and the Railways.