Operation Kaveri: 326 Indians from Sudan en route to India

NEW DELHI: A batch of 326 Indian citizens from violence-hit Sudan reached Saudi Arabia's Jeddah on Friday on their way to India.

This is the 10th batch of evacuees, who arrived in Jeddah on the Indian Navy warship INS Tarkash.

Earlier in the day, a batch of 362 Indians evacuated from Sudan, took off on a flight bound for Bengaluru from Jeddah.

Many of them belonged to Karnataka's Hakki Pikki tribe.

Minister of state for external affairs V. Muraleedharan tweeted these details on Friday.

On April 18, a war of words had broken out between former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, when the former had asked the central government to immediately evacuate Hakki Pikki tribals from war-torn Sudan.

Jaishankar had reacted by saying that he was "simply appalled" at the former chief minister's comments.

"Hakki Pikki in Sudan are left stranded without food since the last few days and the government is yet to initiate action to bring them back. BJP government should open diplomatic discussions and reach out to international agencies to ensure the well-being of Hakki-Pikkis," Siddaramaiah had tweeted.

"Simply appalled at your tweet! There are lives at stake; don't do politics. Since the fighting started on April 14th, the Embassy of India in Khartoum has been continuously in touch with most Indian nationals and PIOs in Sudan," Jaishankar had tweeted in his response to Siddaramaiah's tweet.

The government is evacuating Indian citizens from violence-hit Sudan under Operation Kaveri.

There are around 3,000 Indian citizens in Sudan.

Since April 14, the African nation has been facing violence after fighting erupted between the nation's army and paramilitary forces.