EAM Jaishankar discusses Sudan situation with UN chief Guterres, says…

Jaishankar met Guterres and also discussed a range of issues, including India’s presidency of the G20 and the Ukraine conflict.

Jaishankar said the focus is really on how to get the diplomatic processes to yield the desired result of a workable, on-the-ground observed ceasefire.

Also read | ‘Avoid movements’: India advises citizens in Sudan as armies of 2 generals fight

He is headed on a nine-day trip to Guyana, Panama, Colombia and the Dominican Republic beginning on Friday, his first visit as the external affairs minister to these Latin American countries and the Caribbean.

Before his travel to Latin America, he arrived in New York and met the UN chief at the UN headquarters here on Thursday afternoon.

Noting that he had a “very good meeting” with Guterres, Jaishankar said once the fighting in Sudan started out, “I felt that it was very important” that he met the UN Secretary-General Guterres.

“Most of our meeting was on the Sudan situation. We also of course discussed the G20 and we also spend some time on the Ukraine conflict. But essentially it was about the Sudan” situation, he said.

Jaishankar said that in Sudan, the UN is at “the heart of the efforts” to establish a ceasefire.

“And that is really key because at the moment, unless there is a ceasefire and unless there are corridors, it is not safe for people to really come out,” he said.

“The UN is doing its bit talking to everybody. We of course have obviously very strong interest in the matter because so many Indians are there,” Jaishankar added.

Around 300 people, including an Indian, have been killed, and more than 3,000 injured in clashes in Sudan, according to the World Health Organisation. The violence between forces from Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted on Saturday.