Interference Vs. Engagement
Osman Mirghani
On April 28th, 2022 international envoys representing the USA, UK, Germany, France, Norway, and EU met with the President of the Sovereign Council, 1st Lt. Gen. Abdul Fattah Al-Burhan, and his Deputy, 1st Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, in the presence of the ambassadors of their countries in Khartoum.
At the end of their meetings, they issued a statement that was considered a severe interference in the Sudanese internal affairs.
The statement pointed out that the envoys called for appointing a civilian government, warning at the same time from any agreement or government resulting from non-inclusive procedures.
The statement warned against the risks of the delay in appointing the civilian government.
In this regard and the labeling of the statement as interference in Sudan’s internal affairs by the Sudanese elites, it is apparent that our political elites do not differentiate between the interference and the engagement.
Interference is indeed unacceptable because it means imposing foreign will on the county, but engagement means involvement in building relations that serve the interests of the parties.
Within the development of international relations, the national interests of any country are based on the fruitful engagement which is achieved by the joint interests.
There are enormous examples of the missed chances by Sudan due to the failure of distinguishing between interference and engagement in our foreign relations and using it in our narrow political battles.
