Jaishankar intensifies efforts to protect Indians, meets Guterres

United Nations: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has plunged into a round of diplomacy to help resolve the Sudan crisis and protect Indians there, meeting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and consulting several foreign ministers as international efforts ramped up on the eve of Eid."We, of course, have obviously a very strong interest in the matter because there are so many Indians there," he said on Thursday after his meeting with Guterres.

Jaishankar, who was on his way to a series of visits to Guyana, Panama, Columbia and the Dominican Republic, made an unscheduled stopover in New York to meet Guterres because "you could immediately see that this (Sudan situation) was very serious and a lot of (our) people were trapped by the situation".

"The UN is at the heart of the efforts to establish a ceasefire. And that is really the key because at the moment, unless there is a ceasefire and unless there are corridors, it is not safe for people to come out," he told reporters. Before meeting Jaishankar, Guterres appealed to the religious sentiments of the warring sides for an Eid al-Fitr ceasefire for three days to pave the way for a permanent ceasefire.

Although two previous ceasefire efforts had failed, this time "there is a strong reason - all parties to the conflict are Muslim. We are living in a very important moment in the Muslim calendar. I think this is the right moment for a ceasefire to hold", he told reporters.

Jaishankar assured Indians trapped in Sudan that the government was making all-out efforts to get them to safety. "Our team in Delhi is in continuous touch with Indian citizens in Sudan, advising them saying, you know, 'It's very difficult for everybody, but keep calm, don't take unnecessary risk'," he said. "I hope that the efforts, including that led by S-G (Guterres), will lead to something very soon, but we will have to wait and see", he added.