Conclusion: China, India & the politics of Sudan’s Asian alternatives

Daniel Large, Luke A. Patey

Research output: Contribution to Book/Report typesChapterpeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

On 30 August 1999, the first Sudanese crude oil exports were dispatched from the new port of Masra al-Bashir on the Red Sea. The inaugural shipment heading for Singapore and Asian markets was celebrated as a government victory against external adversity and the means of defeating its internal adversaries: 'We have defeated all the foreign enemies wishing to stop the export of the oil. We must now defeat the internal enemy who may try to halt the full utilisation of the oil revenue.' Together with the opening of the Khartoum refinery, this landmark event distilled the material success of Sudan's Chinese-led, Malaysian-assisted oil development, and came nearly a year after the August 1998 US missile attack on a pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum. President Bashir described the exports as God's reward for 'Sudan's faithfulness'. It could also be said that the oil now flowing from southern Sudan to overseas markets, and the revenue flowing into the central state in Khartoum, represented salvation for the NIF. Not long after these first oil exports, the direction of the NIF's Islamist political project changed when Hassan al-Turabi was sidelined from power in December 1999. By the time employees of ONGC Videsh confirmed India's arrival in Sudan by ceremonially raising the Indian flag in the GNPOC Heglig camp on 18 May 2003, Omar al-Bashir had consolidated his palace power, peace negotiations with the SPLM/A were under way, and conflict in Darfur was escalating after an audacious rebel attack in April on a government air force base in al-Fasher.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSudan Looks East
Subtitle of host publicationChina, India and the Politics of Asian Alternatives
PublisherBoydell and Brewer Ltd
Pages176-194
Number of pages19
ISBN (Electronic)9781782040095
ISBN (Print)9781847010377
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2011
Externally publishedYes

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