On June 29, a Sudanese diplomatic delegation led by Foreign Minister Ali Sadeck Ali paid an official visit to Djibouti, where it met with President Ismail Omar Guelleh of the republic.
Sudan’s foreign minister handed over to the Djiboutian president a letter from Sovereign Transitional Council Chairman Abdel-Fattah Al Burhan, in which the Sudanese political apex called for a renewed and fruitful growth of political and economic relations between the two countries, as part of a regional cooperation that Sudan considers to be of mutual interest (http://www.rtdd.dj/index.php/a-la-une/777-djibouti-soudan-le-president-guelleh-recoit-une-delegation-soudanaise-de-haut-niveau-conduite-par-le-ministre-charge-des-affaires-etrangeres).
The visit, organized with the intention of fostering the full resumption of relations between the two countries after the interlude of the Covid-19 pandemic, had as its primary objective the revitalization of the Djiboutian-Sudanese Joint Commission.
The Sudanese delegation discussed with President Guelleh the possibility of establishing new strategic partnerships on major issues of common interest within IGAD, as well as the revitalization of security cooperation. In fact, Sudan’s director of security general Maj. Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim Moufadal and his Djiboutian counterpart Hassan Said Kaireh also participated in the meetings.
Sudan considers a strengthening of its relationship with Djibouti a key element of its regional security policy, given the small Horn of Africa country’s central and barycentric role in managing its relations with all other countries in the region. This position comes to assume even greater significance today in light of the recent border crises in the al-Fashaga region between Ethiopia and Sudan, where Djibouti’s mediation could prove particularly important in mitigating the possibility of escalation.