Nearly six decades after India conducted Sudan’s first parliamentary elections, it will play a facilitating role for the people of South Sudan to vote in a January referendum to decide whether they will remain part of a united Sudan or form a new independent state.

In 1953, three years before Sudan got its independence from British rule, it was Sukumar Sen, the then chief election commissioner, who conducted the elections in Sudan. Come January 9, it will be the turn of another Indian, Lt. Gen. Jasbir Singh Lidder (Retd), to ensure a transparent referendum, one that is accepted as free and fair by the international community.
Lt. Gen. Lidder is United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon’s deputy special representative for the Sudan. He has served for more than two years as force commander of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), where he facilitated the relationship between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army.
Also involved in the smooth conduct of the referendum will be nearly 3,000 Indian peacekeepers — military and police — who are deployed in South Sudan as part of the UNMIS. Incidentally, UNMIS’ police commissioner is also an Indian, Rajesh Dewan. India’s contribution to UNMIS is 2,634 troops, 17 military observers and 46 civilian police personnel.
Rajiv Bhatia, a retired Indian diplomat who has served as a high commissioner to South Africa, told this newspaper that the significance of the referendum is much more than widely understood. He says it is widely expected that a new country will emerge. Possibly as early as July 2011, according to some reports.
Khidir Haroun Ahmed, Sudan’s ambassador to India, shares similar sentiments. He concedes that it is more likely that South Sudan will secede.
“It will be unfortunate but I hope it will be a peaceful divorce. The hope is secession will not aggravate the situation,” Mr Ahmed notes, referring to the sharing of oil wealth between the South, where most of Sudan’s oil reserves are located, and the North, which has downstream facilities such as pipelines, storage and refinery. Mr Ahmed ends the conversation on a note of caution, saying that many African countries are concerned about the consequences of secession. The fear is whether the referendum in Sudan will encourage the phenomenon of secession in other countries on the African continent and beyond.
As for India, it can be expected to take a position that is in line with the West. “Reports indicate that the Western nations will be happy to see a new country, and India might find a way to go along with it,” says Mr Bhatia. For its part, the Indian government has said it hopes for a peaceful resolution of the issue.
Speaking at the high-level meeting on Sudan at the UN on September 24, 2010, external affairs minister S.M. Krishna had said: “We trust that the referendum will be conducted in a timely, transparent and credible manner and the outcome of the referendum will be respected by all parties in accordance with the provisions of the CPA (Comprehensive Peace Agreement) as also the international community.”
The UNMIS was established in March 2005 to support the implementation of the CPA signed in January 2005 between the government of Sudan and former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.
India is the third largest contributor of troops (military and police) to the UN peacekeeping operations with a total strength of 8,919 personnel serving in nine out of 15 UN peacekeeping missions worldwide.