Written by Major Amit Bansal:
At midnight on 15 April 2023, as residents of Khartoum slept peacefully in their homes, the city was rocked by powerful explosions, artillery bombardment and heavy small arms fire. The diplomatic zone was also undamaged and the Indian embassy building was shaking. No one had any idea of the situation and how to react.
Two groups, the government-backed Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the rebel paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF), were fighting for control of the city. In the next 24 hours when it was realized that the situation was out of control, Indian embassy officials started working day and night.
Although “Operation Kaveri” began after 9 days on 24 April 2023, the preparation and action by the Indian Embassy staff that began the very next day made the operation a success. The evacuation from Sudan was not an easy task and had many challenges.
The first and foremost challenge was that unlike in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen or Ukraine the fighting in Khartoum was taking place in the streets without discrimination of groups. Bullets were passing through civilian buildings and tearing apart civilians.
The second challenge was that the Indian community was spread all over the country and the whereabouts of most of them were unknown. Third, most of them did not have Indian passports as it is a common practice in the Arab world for the employer to deposit the passports of workers with them.
Fourth, the entire infrastructure including airports, roads, bridges etc. was either destroyed or controlled by rebel groups and finally, it was difficult to communicate with government officials or rebel commanders as both were trigger-happy.
Operation Kaveri: The Beginning
To map the locations of Indians, Indian embassy staff came up with a unique solution. The embassy’s young defense attaché, a veteran infantry officer who had seen action in various conflict zones, prepared a Google spreadsheet with the location, landmarks, contact numbers and other details of Indians across the country.
Within no time, a link to the spreadsheet was shared on social media. Indians also responded and within the next 72 hours more than 3000 names were registered. Although Khartoum was approximately 80% Indian, it is a city spread over 1000 square kilometers and locating them with precise accuracy was an extremely difficult task.
These details were then plotted on a map and the war room at the Indian Embassy was getting ready for one of the most unique operations of its kind. People were contacted over phone, assigned an educated and tech-savvy leader among themselves and told to stock up on food, medicine and water and be ready to evacuate at short notice.
In addition, the embassy staff also mapped the disputed areas, areas controlled by various groups and details of their local commanders. Communication with them was established so as to avoid any collateral damage. A proper war room was prepared at the Indian Embassy in Khartoum which was manned 24×7 and a small Indian Embassy team joined together to accomplish this.
Operation Kaveri: Execution
Since the war room was prepared in advance, once “Operation Kaveri” was announced, the execution was quick. Initially, it was assumed that the evacuation could take place through the air but the situation was critical and after a Turkish plane came under fire, it was decided to use the sea route and evacuate the people to a port in Sudan which was relatively peaceful. The distance between Khartoum and Sudan port is about 850 kilometers and the road is dangerous.
The Indian Embassy organized buses from local transporters on 20 April 2023, but none turned up as they were hired by other parties at 2-3 times the fare. The Indian embassy staff had no option but to pay the price demanded from them.
There was another challenge as no one knew what the journey would be like and whether the route was safe or not. To combat this problem, every bus was assigned tech-savvy team leaders who were asked to scan the entire route with photographs and Google locations and map out potential conflict zones where fuel, Food, medicines and water may be available and places where teams can take shelter in case of an emergency. All these were relayed in real time scenario in the war room.
Not only this, every passenger boarding the buses, every Indian was given a number card to identify him and prioritize him. Everyone knew where he had to stand in line and who would be in front and behind him. They were also told what documents they should maintain. This helped in creating a high degree of discipline among the evacuees and the Indians were able to board their respective ships/aircraft in the fastest possible manner.
The first group did their job very well and Indian embassy staff were able to mark every minute detail in their war room, which was managed by the Defense Attache, the only military officer available in the embassy. A team of Indian Embassy staff was also placed at Port Sudan to assist people in boarding ships/aircraft after proper identification. People without passports were also taken away after definitely being identified as Indians. Once the first consignment reached Port of Sudan safely, other consignments were dispatched in no time as the situation was getting worse.
Buses were arranged through local contacts for people living in other parts of Sudan and were asked to follow a similar route. At times, the convoy was led by Indian embassy staff. They were also organized in a similar way.
The major challenge of the entire operation was that the Indian evacuation had to cross RSF and SAF controlled positions several times and each time the Indian embassy staff had to contact both sides to stop the firing. There were instances where buses left through an area of intense fighting.
The curious case of Wadi Syedna
The clock was ticking and one of the Wadi Sayyidna air bases, about 40 km north of Khartoum, had been made operational. The Indian Embassy requested the Sudanese authorities who allowed Indian aircraft to land at Wadi Sayyidna to evacuate their national. Since the route was difficult, the Indian Defense Attache himself led the convoy. He had to cross the city of Omdurman where the fighting was at its height, crossing the Nile several times in a situation where one end of the bridge was under SAF control while the other was with the RSF however he managed to cross because he The former were able to establish contact with them. But the real chilling truth came out when he reached the air base. The Sudanese officials who allowed the Indian aircraft to land were nowhere to be seen and the base was under the control of the British Royal Air Force and Special Air Service, who denied entry to the base to the Indians for several hours until high-level diplomatic Not attempted. As the whole area was a war zone, the Indian aircraft landed with their lights off using their night vision googles and due to the impeccable planning and discipline between the evacuations, the Indians were able to take off in less than an hour after boarding Were.
Operation Kaveri: The Aftermath
Indian embassy staff, including the ambassador himself, worked day and night until every Indian was evacuated from the war-torn country. By then they were operating from the embassy building amid explosions and gunfire.
There were instances when there was a complete blackout but they left Khartoum to go to the port of Sudan only after they were sure that there were no Indians left in Sudan. They did a wonderful job even though the staff of the Indian Embassy was less.
Secretaries, Defense Attaches, Accountants, Staff members and even the Ambassador himself worked tirelessly and made “Operation Cauvery” a success. Those twenty days will be remembered by each and every one of them and every Indian who was safely evacuated from Sudan. Hope our countrymen will also remember his works.