The Embassy of India Addis ababa conducted evacuation exercise for 22 Indian nationals stranded in Sudan during June 20-23, 2023 through the Metema border of Ethiopia.
The exercise was necessitated as the Jeddah route of evacuation ceased to operate and the stranded Indians were to be evacuated, given the safety concerns of the Indians in the war ravaged Sudan. Amidst the ongoing clash and war in Sudan, Govt of India decided to evacuate them through the Ethiopian border town of Metema. The embassy of India, Addisababa played a critical role in the entire evacuation exercise.
The evacuation was carried out on the directions of the Ministry of External Affairs, Govt of India in which both the Embassies of India in Khartoum and Addisababa actively coordinated to evacuate the stranded Indians safely through the Metema border of Ethiopia. A team of three officers from the Indian embassy , Addisababa led by Mr Sanjeev Ranjan, Second Secretary and two other embassy officers went to Metema border to coordinate the evacuation at the immigration checkposts of Sudan and Ethiopia. His Excellency, the Ambassador of India to Ethiopia, Mr Robert Shetkintong, was himself monitoring the situation and guided his team for successful conduct of the operation.
The embassy officers managed to bring them via road to Gondar and finally by flight from Gondar to Addis Ababa Bole International Airport and back to India with full support of both Sudanese and Ethiopian authorities.