On 3 November 2025, Sudan’s Ambassador to India, Mohammed Abdalla Ali Eltom, told journalists in New Delhi that his country faces orchestrated assaults by external powers. It could not and should not be called a civil war. He also identified the United Arab Emirates as the principal backer of the Rapid Support Forces (or the RSF – primarily an Arab Supremacist group of radical Islamists), routing arms through Libya and Chad to sustain the militia’s campaign.
Halting this flow, he stressed, would mark the decisive step toward peace. “Sudan is not facing a civil war. We are confronting conspiracies of non-regional actors. The RSF is acting like a proxy foreign power and a few countries in the region are acting as corridors for arms supply to the RSF.”
Evidence of State-Sponsored Support
The RSF’s deployment of long-endurance drones and precision munitions points unmistakably to sovereign military assistance, the ambassador noted. “US intelligence agencies reported as recently as October that the UAE has increased its supply of Chinese drones and other weapon systems to Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces” (https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uae-increasing-support-sudans-rsf-new-chinese-drones-report). UN experts too have documented UAE-registered cargo flights landing in eastern Chad, off-loading crates later traced to RSF positions.
Abu Dhabi officially denies involvement, yet satellite imagery and recovered materiel contradict those statements.
El Fasher was a Humanitarian Catastrophe
After an 18-month siege that induced famine, RSF units overran El Fasher on 26 October. UN Under-Secretary-General Tom Fletcher briefed the Security Council on 30 October that fighters conducted house-to-house searches, executing civilians and committing widespread sexual violence. At least 460 patients and caregivers were shot dead (on October 28) inside Saudi Maternity Hospital alone, which is located in El Fasher.
Survivors reaching Tawila camp describe gender- and ethnicity-based separations, with men aged 15–50 vanishing after ransom demands of up to 30 million Sudanese pounds.
The International Criminal Court has opened urgent evidence collection for potential genocide charges.
Kidnapping an Indian National
Adarsh Behera, 36, from Odisha, was kidnapped while delivering medical supplies. A verified video shows him pleading for help amid a city-wide communications blackout. Khartoum and New Delhi maintain daily contact; the ambassador expressed confidence in India’s diplomatic weight to secure his release.
India’s Presence in Sudan
Since May 2023, India has operated its embassy from Port Sudan, delivering 42 relief flights carrying wheat, medicines and polio vaccines. Ambassador Eltom praised this continuity: “India feeds our children while others arm our adversaries.”
A Reality Check and Call for Action
Despite RSF gains in Darfur, the Sudanese Armed Forces retain command of 80 per cent of national territory, including the entire Red Sea coast and the agricultural heartland. Port Sudan remains the functioning seat of government.
Ambassador Eltom urged three measures:
- Immediate terrorist designation for the RSF.
- Targeted UN sanctions on every entity in the supply chain, beginning with the UAE.
- Asset freezes on RSF-linked gold flows through Dubai.
Regional Risks
Unchecked RSF expansion risks large-scale massacre of non-Arabs across Sudan, accelerated Sahel instability, and a fresh refugee surge toward Europe. And today’s silence over El Fasher will encourage a roadmap that would echo tomorrow across other capitals in the African continent.
Arindam Mukherjee is the author of Contours Of The Greater Game – Access, Control, and Geopolitical Orders
