PM's brainchild Op Kaveri rescues thousands from Sudan

INDIANS COME HOME

- T. BRAJESH

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's brainchild "Operation Kaveri" ended on Friday (5 May), after bringing back as many as 3,862 Indians from the strife-torn Sudan. Planned, guided, monitored and supervised by PM Modi himself, India's "Operation Kaveri", which was quite a complex exercise amid precarious and volatile security circumstances in Sudan, passed with flying colours. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar's tweet reaffirmed the sentiment "Modi hai to mumkin bai"-a slogan raised by the evacuees after returning from Sudan.

"Prime Minister @narendramodi's commitment to ensuring the safety and security of all Indians abroad was our inspiration," tweeted External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. Highly-placed diplomatic sources told The Sunday Guardian that "PM Modi personally monitored the entire operation and database about the Indians stranded in the war-torn Sudan from day one. Despite being busy in the hectic election campaigning in Karnataka, the Prime Minister kept communicating with S. Jaishankar, taking regular updates on the progress of "Operation Kaveri". "His instruction was very clear that not a single Indian citizen should be left behind.  He also told Jaishankar to help the nationals of other countries," a source said. No doubt, "Operation Kaveri" was a hope not only for Indians but for citizens of neighbouring countries and other countries stuck in the conflict zone. The citizens of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal were helped during the evacuation mission. Sri Lanka's foreign minister thanked India for helping his countrymen in Sudan. "It was a herculean task indeed to evacuate our nationals from the war-hit zone under the operation which was carried out nonstop 24 hours every day," said an official at the Ministry of External Affairs.