The first official Israeli delegation is on its way to visit Sudan later in the week to discuss establishing diplomatic ties and bilateral cooperation in various areas as both nations prepare to formally launch the normalization process, the secretary-general of the Sudanese-Israeli Friendship Association told Sputnik
KHARTOUM (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th November, 2020) The first official Israeli delegation is on its way to visit Sudan later in the week to discuss establishing diplomatic ties and bilateral cooperation in various areas as both nations prepare to formally launch the normalization process, the secretary-general of the Sudanese-Israeli Friendship Association told Sputnik.
Earlier in the week, Reuters news agency reported Israel's plans to send its first official delegation to Sudan on Sunday in a bid to start talks on the establishing of diplomatic relations following the recently-announced peace deal.
"A visit of the Israeli delegation is confirmed, we are aware of it. We will meet with the Israeli delegation," Ayoub Mohamed Abbas, who is also a member of Sudan's popular authority for peace with Israel, said.
The Israeli delegation will comprise experts from various fields, including agriculture, energy, minerals, tourism and antiquities, Abbas added.
"[A visit of] the delegation is of an exploratory nature, it aims to put the normalization process into practice. The delegation will meet officials from the relevant government authorities," Abbas said.
According to Abbas, a Sudanese delegation also intends to visit Israel in the coming days and will be led by the head of the popular authority and former Sudanese parliament member, Abu Al-Qasim Bortom.
"A Sudanese delegation's visit to Tel Aviv was delayed due to the lack of an agreement with the Israeli authorities on a specified number of those participating in the visit, as the delegation should not exceed 20 people," Abbas noted.
The Sudanese official stated that the recent changes that occurred in the United States over the elections would not affect the Sudanese-Israeli normalization track, as the two countries have managed to establish the cooperation, with Israel's El Al airlines recently operating its first flight via the African nation's airspace.
Another Sudanese political analyst affirmed that a visit of the Israeli delegation will discuss technical issues related to the peace deal.
"It is clear that the delegation is technical, and this indicates that the relations have not yet started within the official framework, as they were not officially launched with the opening of embassies in the two countries' capitals," Dr. Abd ar-Rahman Abu Khris, a Sudanese university professor, told Sputnik.
However, according to the professor, the upcoming visit demonstrate that people in both states are "ready to accept the official normalization of ties and the opening of diplomatic missions."
US President Donald Trump announced in late October that Israel and Sudan have agreed to normalize relations in the latest step toward building peace in the middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also announced the normalization of relations with Sudan and said that in the near future the delegations of the two countries will meet to discuss cooperation in many areas.
Sudan is set to become the third Arab country, after the UAE and Bahrain, to join Trump's Abraham accords � a system of fresh peace deals with Israel � and the fifth to establish diplomatic relations with the Jewish state, together with Egypt and Jordan.
