Foreign relations of Sudan

On 23 December 2005 Chad, Sudan's neighbor to the west, declared a 'state of belligerency' with Sudan and accused the country of being the "common enemy of the nation (Chad)." This happened after the 18 December attack on Adré, which left about 100 people dead. A statement issued by Chadian government on 23 December, accused Sudanese militias of making daily incursions into Chad, stealing cattle, killing innocent people and burning villages on the Chadian border. The statement went on to call for Chadians to form a patriotic front against Sudan.[1] On 11 May 2008 Sudan announced it was cutting diplomatic relations with Chad, claiming that it was helping rebels in Darfur to attack the Sudanese capital Khartoum[2]

Egypt and Sudan have enjoyed intimate and longstanding historical ties, seeing as they are each other's closest allies in the North African region. The two countries are connected by various cultural ties and political aspirations. In the late 1970s, Sudan showed great solidarity with Egypt in its Camp David peace initiatives with Israel. In 2008, Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif urged the two countries to focus on two specific projects: the Gezira Scheme which aims to cultivate some two million acres (8,000 km²) of land in Sudan, and a joint project to improve food security in agricultural and meat production.

Sudan asserts its claim to the Hala'ib Triangle, a barren area of 20,580 km² under partial Sudanese administration that is defined by an administrative boundary which supersedes the treaty boundary of 1899.

Egypt's policy on Sudan is in favor of a united Sudan. As such Egypt was not directly involved in the Sudan Peace Process which was hosted in Kenya under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development that gave the peoples of south Sudan the right to secede and form an independent state in 2011 after the long and brutal Sudanese civil war that cumulatively lasted 22 years and claimed 2 million lives.

See Ethiopia–Sudan relations.

As of 2011, good relations between Sudan and Ethiopia continued in spite of Sudan’s improved ties with Eritrea.[3] President al-Bashir visited Addis Ababa twice in 2001.[3] During a visit to Khartoum in 2002, Ethiopia’s prime minister, Meles Zenawi, hailed Ethiopian–Sudanese ties.[3] The two countries agreed to cancel entry visas and fees on traded commodities, and they stepped up plans to increase trade.[3] Ethiopia began early in 2003 to import oil from Sudan.[3] By 2009 Sudan supplied 80 percent of Ethiopia’s demand for oil.[3] The two nations signed an agreement ending a dispute involving their 1,600-kilometer border, and landlocked Ethiopia made plans to make greater use of Port Sudan as a transshipment point.[3] Ethiopia, Sudan, and Yemen formed a regional group early in 2003 that they said was designed to “combat terrorism” in the Horn of Africa.[3]

Bilateral relations among countries in the Horn of Africa tended to be fickle.[3] However, Ethiopia and Sudan continued to make progress on settling border issues.[3] The Ethiopian prime minister and Sudanese president inaugurated a major new road link between Ethiopia and Sudan at the end of 2007.[3] There were frequent subsequent exchange visits by Ethiopian and Sudanese leaders.[3] Ethiopia remained wary, however, of any effort by Sudan to return to a policy supporting Islamist militancy in the region.[3] Although Ethiopia preferred a united Sudan, it shored up its relations with South Sudan on the assumption that it would opt for secession.[3] Sudan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea were periodic recipients of refugees from the other countries, another potential cause of friction.[3] Agreement on usage of Nile water reemerged as an important issue between Addis Ababa and Khartoum, while Asmara supported the Sudanese position as another way to irritate Ethiopia.[3]

See Libya–Sudan relations.

Relations between Sudan and Libya deteriorated in the early 1970s and reached a low in October 1981, when Libya began a policy of crossborder raids into western Sudan. Following a 1985 coup, Sudan resumed diplomatic relations with Libya.[4] Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi ended his aid to the Christian and animist, southern-based, Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) led by Garang and welcomed the incoming government of General Suwar al Dahab.[5] In July 1985, a military protocol was signed between the two countries, and Qaddafi was the first head of state to visit the new Khartoum government. Qaddafi then strongly supported Sudanese opposition leader Sadiq al Mahdi, who became prime minister on 6 May 1986.[5] However, Mahdi soon turned against Gaddafi by declaring Sudan a neutral state in both regional and global conflicts and ordered Libyan troops to leave the country.[5]

After Mahdi was overthrown in a 1989 coup d'état, the military government of Omar Al-Bashir resumed diplomatic relations with Libya,[4] as part of a policy of improving relations with neighboring Arab states.[4] In early 1990, Libya and the Sudan announced that they would seek "unity".[4] This unity was never implemented and Sudanese forces ultimately participated in the military intervention that overthrew Qaddafi by securing Kufra.[4]

Sudan, under the National Islamic Font government became one of the very few states in the world that recognise Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.[6]

Official diplomatic relations commenced on 9 July 2011, the day of South Sudan independence when Sudan became the first state to recognise South Sudanese independence. Although cultural and economic relations predate independence and even the civil war between the two entities.

Relations with Uganda are plagued by a number of issues, including the death of former Vice-President Dr John Garang de Mabior whilst on a Ugandan Presidential Helicopter, backing by Sudan of the Lord's Resistance Army, and the historical backing by Uganda of various regional rebellions in Sudan, as well as Uganda's intimate relations with South Sudan (both before and after South Sudanese independence).

• Brazil has an embassy in Khartoum.
• Sudan has an embassy in Brasilia.

Mexico and Sudan established diplomatic relations on 19 October 1982.[7]

• Mexico is accredited to Sudan from its embassy in Cairo, Egypt and maintains an honorary consulate in Khartoum.
• Sudan does not have an embassy accredited to Mexico.

On 3 November 1997, the U.S. government imposed a trade embargo against Sudan and a total asset freeze against the Government of Sudan under Executive Order 13067. The U.S. believed the Government of Sudan gave support to international terrorism, destabilized neighboring governments, and permitted human rights violations, creating an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.[8]

On 3 June 2008, US - Sudan normalization talks broke down over the issue of conflicts in the oil-producing central region of Abyei.[9]

On 17 February 2015 the U.S. government issued a general license to amend US Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions on Sudan. The general license authorizes the exportation and re-exportation to Sudan of "certain software, hardware and services incident to personal communications over the Internet.[10]

In mid-January 2017, the United States lifted economic and trade sanctions on Sudan due to the Sudanese government's cooperation in fighting terrorism, reducing conflict, and denying safe havens to South Sudanese rebels.[11] On 16 March 2017, the Trump Administration resumed military relations following the exchange of military attaches. [12] In the following months, the United States Government removed Sudan from the list of Muslim-majority countries on the American travel ban and lifted all 1997 sanctions on Sudan after the Sudanese Government severed relations with North Korea.[13] In addition, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, which supported the lifting of sanctions, established an office in Khartoum.[13][14]

Following the 2019 Sudanese coup d'état, the new Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok entered into talks with US officials in September 2019, seeking the removal of Sudan from the US state sponsor of terrorism list.[15] In December 2019, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the United States and Sudan would begin exchanging ambassadors after a 23-year period of no diplomatic relations.[16] In October 2020, US President Donald Trump announced that he would remove Sudan from the US state sponsor of terrorism list in return for Sudan paying US$355 million in compensation to American victims of terrorism and their families.[17] In addition, Sudan also established diplomatic relations with Israel with US support.[18]

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 8 December 1992.

China is Sudan's biggest trade partner. China imports oil, from Sudan, and Sudan imports low cost items as well as armaments from China. China and Sudan enjoy a very robust and productive relationship in the fields of diplomacy, economic trade, and political strategic. The two nations established diplomatic relations on 4 January 1959 and have since become strongly close global allies. Education also has close ties, as Sudanese students go to China to learn Chinese, and Chinese students go to Sudan to learn Arabic.

Relations between Sudan and Iran have long been cordial due to their opposition to the State of Israel and extensive trade and diplomatic services existed between the two nations. In January 2016, Sudan severed relations with Iran, choosing instead to align itself with Saudi Arabia's isolation of Tehran.[20]

Sudan has an embassy in Baghdad and Iraq's embassy is in Khartoum.

During the war between Iraq and Iran in the 1980s, Sudan maintained a careful balancing act, calling for a cessation of hostilities but sympathizing with Iraq.[21] Sudan on several occasions offered to mediate the conflict.[21] By 1988, Sudan called for an end to the war on the basis of United Nations Security Council Resolution 598.[21] Sudan supported Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, leading to a period of close relations with Baghdad.[21] Iraq was believed to have supplied weapons to Sudan and in the mid-1990s agreed to help Sudan exploit its oil wealth.[21] Although Sudan was trying to improve relations with the United States after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, it remained critical of the subsequent American-led invasion of Iraq.[21] Following the overthrow of the Ba’athist regime, however, Sudan’s position on Iraq became more nuanced.[21] On the one hand, it was quick to criticize the United States, which harshly condemned Sudan’s record on human rights, for its double standard in dealing with prisoners in Iraq.[21] It also advised Sudanese not to work with U.S. contractors in the country.[21] By late 2004, however, Sudan’s relations with the new Iraqi government had improved to the point that Iraq’s foreign minister visited Khartoum and met with al-Bashir. Subsequently, Sudan generally avoided commenting on Iraq.[21]

When the Arab-Israeli war began in June 1967, Sudan declared war on Israel. However, in the early 1970s, Sudan gradually shifted its stance and was supportive of the Camp David Accords. In January 2016, Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour floated normalized ties with Israel provided the U.S. government lifts economic sanctions.[22] Despite official denials from the Sudanese government, it is suspected that Israel and Sudan maintain covert relations along with other moderate Sunni states as Sudan is a member of the "Saudi coalition" and both nations are vehemently opposed to Iran.[23]

On 23 October 2020, Sudan agreed to normalise relations with Israel in return for the Trump Administration removing Sudan from the United States' list of state sponsors of terrorism, easing a barrier to economic aid and investment in Sudan.[24][18]

Malaysia has an embassy in Khartoum, while Sudan has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.[25] Both countries are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Sudan has brotherly relations with Malaysia.

Relations between Pakistan and Sudan]have been characterised as close, warm, brotherly, and cordial.[26] Both Pakistan and Sudan share the same religion as well as historical baggage of colonial rule. Both countries are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Like Minded Group, and the Group of 77 in the United Nations.

Bilateral relations strengthened when Sudan declared its support for Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani wars, and Pakistan stood by Sudan over its integrity and sovereignty, especially on its boundary disputes with both Egypt and South Sudan. Pakistan also contributed to the UN peacekeeping force in Sudan with 1,542 personnel and 92 observers during the Second Sudanese Civil War.[27]

Through various memorandums of understanding, the two cooperate in the fields of agriculture, healthcare and education. Pakistan is also supporting Sudan with higher education as more than five hundred students from Sudan study in the universities of Pakistan which is the highest number of Sudanese students to any foreign country.[27] In the past, Pakistan has offered medical training to Sudanese without any tuition fees.[28] Sudan donated generously in the relief efforts during earthquake in 2005 and floods in 2010 in Pakistan. In turn, Pakistan has sent aid to Sudan during drought and famine. UNMIS Pakistani contingent regularly holds free clinics in remote areas of Blue Nile State that are currently inaccessible by land.[29] In 2009, 37th such event was held near Ad-Damazin where over 1,500 patients were treated.[30][31]

Pakistan and Sudan regularly engage in collaborative dialogue at OIC summits to improve political stability in the Middle East and the Islamic World.[32] In 2014, President Mamnoon Hussain proposed a third round of Pakistan-Sudan Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) to enhance cooperation in trade, economic and defence sectors.[33]

Relations between Qatar and Sudan were first established in 1972, when Qatar inaugurated its embassy in Sudan's capital, Khartoum.[34] In turn, Sudan has an embassy in Doha, Qatar.[35] Qatar remains one of the largest foreign investors in Sudan,[36] and has helped broker peace agreements between the Sudanese government and rebel factions in Darfur.[37]

Saudi Arabia had been an important source of financial support for Sudan prior to the 1990–91 Gulf War.[38] Sudan’s support for Iraq adversely affected its relations with Saudi Arabia, and al-Turabi’s brand of Islamism was not in tune with Saudi Wahhabi philosophy.[38] Riyadh suspended grants, project loans, and concessionary oil sales.[38] This action had a devastating impact on Sudan’s budget and economy.[38] The relationship normalized by 1995 and continued to improve.[38] The two countries signed an agreement in 2004 to set up a political coordination committee.[38] Al-Bashir visited Saudi Arabia in May 2004, and Saudi leaders subsequently supported Sudan’s handling of the crisis in Darfur.[38] In 2005 the two countries signed two security agreements on combating crime, drug trafficking, and terrorism.[38] Saudi Arabia also began providing assistance for development projects in South Sudan.[38] Significant numbers of Sudanese had for many years worked in Saudi Arabia, a factor that increased the importance of the relationship.[38]

The two countries established diplomatic relations on 13 April 1977 and the requirement for all other agencies with intelligence-gathering and analysis functions in their charters to coordinate their activities with the ANSP was reaffirmed.[39]

• Turkey and Sudan established bilateral relations in 1956, although there has been diplomatic contact in the past as Sudan was under the Ottoman rule of Muhammad Ali Pasha.
• Sudan has an embassy in Ankara.[40]
• Turkey has an embassy in Khartoum.[41]
• Trade volume between the two countries was 434 million USD in 2019 (Sudanese exports/imports: 73/361 million USD).[42]
• Yunus Emre Institute has a local headquarters in Khartoum.

Although on opposing sides of the Middle East Peace Process spectrum, Turkey and Sudan have in recent years joined forces to end the ongoing conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Both countries have made repeated plea talks during the offensive in Gaza during the beginning of 2009 to Palestinian officials to be of both economic and political aid to the turmoilic state.

Belarus and Sudan have maintained good relations since several decades. Belarus exports weapons and military hardware to Sudan since 1996. In 2003, Belarus supplied Sudan with nine BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, 39 BRDM-2 armoured reconnaissance vehicles, 16 122 mm howitzer 2A18 (D-30) howitzer guns, 10 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzers and six BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers.[44] In 2007, a Sudanese delegation attended a Belarus arms show.[45] In 2013, Belarus exported Su-24 planes to Sudan.[46] In 2017, Belarussian president Alexander Lukashenko visited Sudan. On this occasion, delegations signed contracts worth $50 million. In the near future Sudan plans to test a Belarusian harvester which was especially designed for the country taking into account its climate.[47] Additionally, Belarus Energy Minister Vladimir Potupchik said Belarus is ready to take part in the construction and reconstruction of energy facilities in Sudan.[48] Also in January 2017, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko signed in Khartoum a Comprehensive Friendship and Cooperation Agreement between the two countries.[49]

Bulgaria and Sudan established diplomatic relations on 1 July 1956. In 1967, Bulgaria sent the first Bulgarian ambassador to Khartoum. The activities of the Bulgarian embassy in Khartoum were terminated in April 1990, and later reestablished in March 2005. In 2006 the General Consulate of the Sudan, in Sofia, Bulgaria has been upgraded to the rank of embassy.[50]

See Denmark–Sudan relations.

Danish-Sudanese relations are extremely poor. On 27 February 2008, Sudan decided to boycott Danish goods after the controversial Muhammad cartoons have been reprinted by a series of newspapers in Denmark and other European countries. Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir has backed up the country and other Muslim states, requiring them to boycott Danish products just as Sudan did. He even stated that "No Danes shall ever again be able to set foot in Sudan." Due to the tensions, the two countries have closed their embassies.

Russia has an embassy in Khartoum and Sudan has an embassy in Moscow.

For decades, Russia and Sudan have maintained a strong economic and politically strategic partnership. Due to solidarity with both the United States and with the Soviet Union and with the allies of the two nations, Sudan declared neutrality and instead chose membership in the Non-Aligned Movement throughout the Cold War. Russo-Sudanese relations were minorly damaged when, in 1971 members of the Sudanese Communist Party attempted to assassinate then-president Gaafar Nimeiry, and Nimeiry pegged the blame on the USSR, thus enhancing Sudanese relations with the West, and were damaged again when Sudan supported the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan when the USSR invaded in 1979. Due to a common enemy, diplomatic cooperation between the two countries dramatically got back on track during the late 1990s and early 2000s, when Vladimir Putin was elected the President, and then the Prime Minister of Russia, and along with Chinese leader Hu Jintao opposed UN Peacekeepers in Darfur. Russia strongly supports Sudan's territorial integrity and opposes the creation of an independent Darfurian state. Also, Russia is Sudan's strongest investment partner in Europe and political ally in Europe, and Russia has repeatedly and significantly regarded Sudan as an important global ally in the African continent. For decades there have been Sudanese collegians studying in Russian universities.

In March 2009, Sudan expelled several major foreign aid agencies including Oxfam[51][52][53] and Save the Children from Darfur in response to the extradition request of Omar al-Bashir to answer ICC charges. President al-Bashir accused foreign aid workers of being "spies" and "thieves".[53][54] Penny Lawrence, Oxfam's international director, said of the ban "It will affect more than 600,000 Sudanese people whom we provide with vital humanitarian and development aid, including clean water and sanitation on a daily basis."[55]

Gordon Brown said in response "The humanitarian agencies that are working in Sudan should be allowed to stay there and continue their work."[56]

In April 2009, Oxfam and other aid agencies appealed their ban[57] saying that "The expulsion is already affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of the very poorest and most vulnerable Sudanese people".[58] Oxfam have denied working for the ICC saying that "We don't have an agreement with the ICC, we are a humanitarian organisation and we are impartial," and "We don't have anything to do with the ICC and we don't have a position on its decision."[59]