The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended his greetings and felicitations to the Government and people of the Republic of Sudanon the eve of their Independence Day (January 1, 2016).

In his message toHis Excellency Mr. Omar Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir, the President of the Republic of Sudan,the President has said, "On behalf of the Government, the people of India and on my own behalf, I extend warm greetings and felicitations to Your Excellency and to the friendly people of Sudan on the occasion of the 59th Anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Sudan.

India and Sudan have historically shared warm and friendly relations. Sudan is the largest recipient of India’s line of credit (LOC) in the whole of the African Continent with disbursement of more than US$ 700 million. Sudan is also one of India’s favoured foreign investment destinations with around US$ 2.5 billion invested by Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) Videsh Ltd. in the Sudanese oil sector.

Excellency, during your recent visit to New Delhi for the India-Africa Forum Summit, and your meeting with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, various possibilities of furtherance of our bilateral relations were discussed. I am confident that our ties will be further strengthened and diversified to our mutual benefit in the years ahead.

Please accept, Excellency, my best wishes for your good health and well-being as well as for the progress and prosperity of the friendly people of Sudan”.

This Press Release issued at 1315 hrs.