India Launches ‘Operation Kaveri’ to Evacuate Nationals Amid Sudan’s ongoing crisis

Bасkgrоund:-

• The Sudan conflict originated from the removal of President Omar al-Bashir by military leaders in April 2019 after protests.

• The military and protesters reached an agreement to establish the Sovereignty Council to lead Sudan to elections by the end of 2023.
• The military toppled the transitional government led by Abdalla Hamdok in October 2021, with Burhan and Dagalo assuming leadership roles.
• Following the 2021 coup, a power struggle between two military and paramilitary generals (SAF and RSF) emerged, disrupting the transition plan to elections.
• In December 2021, a preliminary agreement was reached for a political transition. Still, negotiations stalled over the integration of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) due to disagreements over the timetable and security sector reforms.
• Clashes erupted due to tensions over control of resources and RSF integration, with the parties disagreeing on how the 10,000-strong RSF should be integrated into the army and who should oversee the process.
• RSF General Dagalo wanted to postpone the integration for ten years, while the army insisted it would take place in the next two years.

Linkаges:-

• Operation Ganga (2022): Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine are evacuated due to heightened tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
• Operation Devi Shakti (2021): India evacuated its citizens and Afghan partners from Kabul after the Taliban took over.
• Vande Bharat (2020): India brought back around 60 lakh citizens stranded abroad due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Operation Samudra Setu (2020): Indian Navy successfully brought back 3,992 citizens to India from overseas during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Сurrent  Sсenаriо:-

• India has started ‘Operation Kaveri’ to evacuate its nationals owing to the Current Crisis in Sudan.
• The operation involves the deployment of the Indian Navy’s INS Sumedha, a stealth offshore patrol vessel, and two Indian Air Force C-130J special operations aircraft on standby in Jeddah.
• There are about 2,800 Indian nationals in Sudan, and there is also a settled Indian community of about 1,200 in the country.

Imрасt:-

• Since India cannot depend only on West Asian countries such as Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia that constitute the global energy heartland, it has consciously cultivated relations with oil-rich African states like Sudan, Nigeria, and Angola to meet its growing energy demands.
• In view of the existing structures of Indo-Sudanese ties and Sudan’s location in the Horn of Africa, India needs to guard its trade, investments, and interests in the region before taking any hasty step of recognising the new regime.

Content contributed by- TeamNewscanvass