South Sudanese Prez visit put off, oil talks on hold
The much anticipated three-day visit of Salva Kiir Mayardit, the President of oil-rich South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, to India which was to begin on Monday has been postponed.
The visit is learnt to have been cancelled by the South Sudanese government owing to the political instability currently prevailing in the east African nation. It is now expected to take place at a later date though the visit’s postponement has come as a disappointment to South Block.
President Salva Kiir issued a presidential decree on Friday appointing Parliament’s Speaker James Wani Igga as South Sudan’s vice-president on Friday. Now, the country’s Parliament is in a political deadlock over who should be elected as the new Speaker as no consensus on a name has been reached yet.
The former rebel leader who became his country’s first President in 2011, was to have been accompanied by a large delegation comprising ministers, officials and business leaders during his visit to India where oil would have been among the primary areas of discussion.
With ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) being among the three main international companies handling South Sudan’s oil fields, India has huge stakes there. What has caused anxiety here is the threat by South Sudan to cease oil production if Sudan stopped oil flow through the pipelines that traverse its territory as this will hit Indian interests.
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