Dec 14: Minister of State for External Affairs H. E. Shri V. Muraleedharan and Acting Foreign Minister of Sudan H.E. Mr. Omar Gamar Aldin Ismail held a meeting through video conference on 14 December 2020. The meeting afforded an opportunity to comprehensively review the bilateral relations since the Transitional Government took office in Sudan.
MOS congratulated the Transitional Government and the people of Sudan on the signing of the Juba Peace Agreement, welcomed the removal of Sudan from the US’s State Sponsors of Terrorism List, and the normalization of its relations with Israel. India hopes that these positive developments would lead Sudan on the path of development, peace, and prosperity.
Mr. Omar Gamar Aldin Ismail, in turn, congratulated India on its election to the non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council for the term 2021-2022. MOS thanked the Sudanese Government for its support to India for its candidature to the UNSC, observer status at the Djibouti Code of Conduct / Jeddah Amendment, and at elections to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
The two Ministers had a brief discussion on respective national approaches to fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. Both governments have worked closely on the repatriation of each other’s nationals through chartered flights. MOS apprised the Sudanese Minister of the progress in vaccine development in India. He informed that India would be sending 10 MT of life-saving drugs to the Government of Sudan in the coming weeks to help it cope with the Covid situation. Last month, India had delivered 100 MT of food aid to Sudan through an Indian Naval Ship.
Conveying satisfaction at the steady growth of bilateral trade and investment ties, the Ministers agreed to tap the vast potential for further cooperation in sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture, mining, renewable energy, health, and education. In that context, MOS invited Mr. Omar Gamar Aldin Ismail to visit India early next year for co-chairing the India-Sudan Joint Ministerial Committee meeting. They also agreed to convene the meeting of the Joint Business Council on the sidelines.
India and Sudan historically share very close and friendly relations. India has always stood in solidarity with the people of Sudan and partnered in undertaking development, capacity building, and humanitarian assistance programs. India has extended the Duty-Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) scheme to Sudan for boosting its exports to India. Since 2004, the Government of India has implemented 49 projects in the energy, transport, and agro-industry sectors in Sudan through concessional lines of credit worth USD 612 million. In West Asia and North Africa region, Sudan is the largest recipient of annual ITEC scholarships. Besides, India also conducts regular customized training programs in a range of fields for Sudanese Government officials under the India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) cooperation framework.
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