India to ship life saving drugs to Sudan

During a meeting held through video conferencing, India assured Sudan that it will send 10 metric tonnes of life saving drugs to the African nation in coming weeks to help it cope with the COVID situation.

New Delhi:India on Monday informed Sudan that it would be sending 10 Metric Tonnes of life saving drugs to the African nation in coming weeks to help it cope with the COVID situation.

This was conveyed by Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan to Sudan's Acting Foreign Minister Omar Gamar Aldin Ismail during a meeting held through video conferencing.

The meeting afforded an opportunity to comprehensively review the bilateral relations since the transitional government took office in Sudan, a Ministry of External Affairs statement said.

Muraleedharan 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'' 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, the MEA said.

Ismail, in turn, congratulated India on its election to the non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council for the term 2021-2022.

The Minister of State for External Affairs 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, the MEA said.

Both governments have worked closely on the repatriation of each other's nationals through chartered flights, it said.

Muraleedharan 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 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, Muraleedharan invited 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, the statement said.

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 programmes, it said.

India has extended 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 energy, transport and agro-industry sectors in Sudan through concessional lines of credit worth USD 612 million.

In the West Asia and North Africa region, Sudan is the largest recipient of annual ITEC scholarships. Besides, India also conducts regular customized training programmes in a range of fields for Sudanese government officials under the India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) cooperation framework.

PTI Report