Operation Sankat Mochan: Aircrafts reach South Sudan to evacuate; first batch likely to arrive in India tomorrow morning

India on Thursday sent two C-17 military transport aircraft to war-torn South Sudan's capital city Juba to evacuate over 300 Indians stranded there. The rescue operation is being called Operation Sankat Mochan.

The Indian Rescue team headed by Gen VK Singh landed in Juba on Thursday in the first C-17 aircraft. The first batch of rescued persons from South Sudan are likely to arrive Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on Friday morning around 6 am.

Op #SankatMochan: Gen VK Singh meets Indian Blue Berets posted as part of UNMISS (UN Mission in South Sudan) (MEA) pic.twitter.com/QniY5P9SYr

— ANI (@ANI_news) July 14, 2016

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, earlier in the day, in a series of tweets, had said:

Indians in South Sudan - Pls move out. We have sent two aircrafts for you. If situation worsens, we will not be able to evacuate u. Pl RT

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 14, 2016

Please ask all your relatives and friends in South Sudan to pl make use of this opportunity and move out. #SankatMochan

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 14, 2016

Please ask all your relatives and friends in South Sudan to pl make use of this opportunity and move out. #SankatMochan

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 14, 2016

The Minister also said in case situation deteriorates in South Sudan, which is witnessing heavy fighting in several parts of the city, the government will not be able to evacuate the Indians there.

Singh is accompanied by Amar Sinha, secretary (economic relations) in the external affairs ministry, joint secretary Satbir Singh and director Anjani Kumar. On Wednesday, an official advisory had said that only Indian nationals with valid Indian travel documents will be allowed boarding with maximum five kg cabin baggage and no check-in pieces. Women and children will be accommodated on priority, it added.

According to the ministry, there are around 600 Indians in South Sudan, of them 450 are in Juba and nearly 150 are outside the capital. So far, nearly 300 Indians have registered with the Indian embassy for evacuation, official sources said.