External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj thanked Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar for the support towards the endeavour and also extended her best wishes to the Indian Air Force (IAF) who will be carrying out the operation.
Advertisement
Singh is accompanied by by Amar Sinha, secretary (economic relations) in the external affairs ministry, joint secretary Satbir Singh and director Anjani Kumar.
India has been closely monitoring developments in South Sudan, which is witnessing heavy fighting between former rebels and government soldiers in several parts of the city.
Two IAF C17′s departed for South Sudan around 5 am today with VK Singh leading the operation.
“.@SushmaSwaraj Ma’am request for speedy measures and actions to evacuate Indians stranded in Sudan. As a result, they are turning to coping mechanisms like looting to survive”, said Jeremiah Young, policy adviser for World Vision. Embassies and aid organisations in South Sudan are moving to evacuate staff from Juba amid the tenuous ceasefire. A task force has been set up for the goal.
After an outbreak of deadly violence between rival troops in South Sudan’s capital Juba in the past week, IGAD demanded the creation of an intervention brigade, similar to a United Nations combat force in Democratic Republic of Congo that is mandated to enforce peace by targeting and neutralizing armed rebel groups. “At present, the fighting is taking place in Juba”, she added.
Events in South Sudan, where hundreds died in four days of fierce fighting between forces loyal to the country’s rival leaders, are “totally unacceptable”, African Union Commission president Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said Wednesday.
Advertisement
While a precarious calm has descended on Juba since both Kiir and Machar called for a cease-fire late Monday, fears persist that forces on both sides continue to target people for their ethnicity.
