Sudan - India

• India is Sudan's third largest partner in the oil sector, and its companies account for a 25 per cent share of the African nation's oil off-shore industry.

• India is constructing a thermal plant 200 km south of Khartoum, which will add nearly 50 per cent to the country's current power generation.

• Sudan’s current major source, the Merowe Dam, produces 1,200 mw of electricity. The project is expected to be completed by March this year when Khartoum could be hoping for India's endorsement in constructive endeavours in Sudan by a high-level visit to mark the occasion.

• India's construction of the Port Sudan-Khartoum road, which reduced the distance by five hours, has been appreciated. Indian companies are also linking electricity grids between the north and the west.

• Sudan is also hoping for more Indian interest, especially refinery business and agriculture where so far only 20 per cent of land is being put to use, which is an opportunity for India to invest.

• Currently, the biggest nation in Africa and the Middle-East, and the 10th largest in the world Sudan is soon likely to split into north and south after the formal announcement of referendum results, which was held very recently.

• Post-split, both countries are likely to have a 2,000-km border with around 10 million people of mixed ethnicity. While 70 per cent of oil is produced in the south, 100 per cent of the facilities such as refineries and pipelines are in the north.