Rwanda and Sudan sign cooperation pact

Rwanda and the Republic of Sudan on Tuesday signed a five-year bilateral cooperation agreement.The agreement was signed by Foreign Affairs and Cooperation minister Louise Mushikiwabo and her Sudanese counterpart, Ali Ahmed Karti, in Kigali.At the same ceremony, an air service agreement meant to expand air transport services between Kigali and Khartoum was signed.Mushikiwabo said the signed agreements would strengthen the “commendable existing cooperation”.“It is the way to open up other areas of cooperation,” she said.Rwanda maintains more than 3,200 peacekeepers in Sudan’s Darfur region, and Minister Mushikiwabo thanked Sudan “for being a good host for Rwanda peacekeeping forces”.On his part, Ali Ahmed Karti said the agreements were an opportunity for trade and transport between the peoples of the two countries to flourish.The State Minister in charge of transport, Dr. Alexis Nzahabwanimana, noted that the air service agreement was part of government’s plan to expand airlines to different cities, including Khartoum and Juba in South Sudan.The Sudanese minister also updated his counterpart on the current situation of the cooperation with South Sudan, noting that the recent agreement signed in Ethiopia marked a commendable step for bilateral ties. Meanwhile, the Republic of Sudan later on Tuesday officially opened its embassy in Kigali, in a ceremony that also attracted members of the diplomaticcorps accredited to Rwanda.Karti called on Africans to understand and solve their own problems. “No one will know your problems as Africans but it is we who are meant to know our and address own problems.”

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Rwanda and Sudan sign cooperation pact