MEA to evacuate Indians from Sudan
posted on Jul 12, 2016 @ 6:23PM
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday said that India has formed a task force to take stock of situation of security of Indians in Sudan. Swaraj said the evacuation scheme is fully ready and if the situation worsens then the government will not delay and immediately evacuate Indians from there. The Indian embassy in South Sudan had asked Indians stranded there to stay calm, assuring them that they are in constant touch with authorities in India and all options are being considered to provide relief to them amid heavy fighting between South Sudan's army and former rebels. The minister said, "The situation in South Sudan deteriorated suddenly in the past three days. We have constituted a task force to constantly study the emerging situation in South Sudan and to closely tab on the occurrences there. The task force held a meeting in the morning. There are around 600 Indians in South Sudan, of them 450 are in Juba (capital city of South Sudan) and nearly 150 are outside Juba. At present, the fighting is taking place in Juba. According to official data, there are a few hundred Indians in South Sudan. Some of them have set up businesses in Juba and others are working for various companies. A small number of Indian nationals also work in Christian missionary organizations in that country.