The ongoing conflict in Sudan has already led to hundreds of deaths and several thousand injuries. At least one Indian national is reportedly among the deceased. Like many other countries, India too is trying to evacuate nationals from the country — two Indian Air Force planes are waiting to assist in rescue operations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and one Navy vessel is at Port Sudan on the Red Sea. Over the years, New Delhi has been adept at using its diplomatic skill and leveraging goodwill to ensure that Indians overseas are able to return to the country when they are faced with a crisis at their destinations. Given the nature of conflict in the current multipolar, often divided global strategic scenario, India’s diplomatic corps need to be prepared for more such situations.
Sudan, the third-largest country in Africa, is immensely rich in resources — from gold to fossil fuels. Its strategic geography and inherent value have made it a target for exploitation by world powers, countries in its neighbourhood as well as local strongmen. The current crisis can be traced back to 2019, when the 30-year, brutal dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir was toppled by popular movements demanding democracy. The international community welcomed the imminent establishment of democracy in Sudan. That promise stands shattered for now and exposes the limits of multilateral organisations, including the UN. The current clashes between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and the army, headed by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, seem to be over the proposed transition to civilian rule.
On April 24, India began ‘Operation Kaveri’ to evacuate around 4,000 nationals currently stranded in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan. New Delhi has done well to leverage its diplomatic capital in West Asia and Africa — notably with Saudi Arabia in this instance — for the benefit of Indians abroad, during a crisis. Similar operations were conducted in Ukraine — ‘Operation Ganga’ — to evacuate students and others from the conflict zone; in Afghanistan in 2021 and even from war-torn Yemen in 2015. And as early as the first Gulf War (1990-91), Air India (then the public carrier) was pressed to evacuate over 1,60,000 people from Kuwait. The fact remains that lakhs of Indians work and live across the world and the diaspora is a crucial part of the economy, and even the larger social and kinship networks of most Indians. Every conflict, then, is a potential crisis for New Delhi. Fortunately, thus far, Indian governments have acquitted themselves well in such scenarios. They must continue to do so. The international community — of which India seeks to be a crucial, moral voice — on its part, must do all it can to bring the warring parties in Sudan to agree to a ceasefire and ensure the transition that was promised in 2019.
