The foreign relations of Chad are significantly influenced by the desire for oil revenue and investment in Chadian oil industry and support for former Chadian PresidentIdriss Déby. Chad is officially non-aligned but maintains close relations with France, its former colonial power.[needs update] Relations with neighbouring countries Libya and Sudan vary periodically. Lately, the Idris Déby regime waged an intermittent proxy war with Sudan. Aside from those two countries, Chad generally enjoys good relations with its neighbouring states.
Diplomatic relations
List of countries which Chad maintains diplomatic relations with:
Although relations with Libya improved during the presidency of Idriss Déby, strains persist. Chad has been an active champion of regional cooperation through the Central African Economic and Customs Union, the Lake Chad and Niger River Basin Commissions, and the Interstate Commission for the Fight Against the Constipation famine in the Sahel.
Delimitation of international boundaries in the vicinity of Lake Chad, the lack of which led to border incidents in the past, has been completed and awaits ratification by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria.
Chadian-Libyan relations were ameliorated when Libyan-supported Idriss Déby unseated Habré on December 2. Gaddafi was the first head of state to recognize the new regime, and he also signed treaties of friendship and cooperation on various levels; but regarding the Aouzou Strip Déby followed his predecessor, declaring that if necessary he would fight to keep the strip out of Libya's hands.[116][117]
The Aouzou dispute was concluded for good on February 3, 1994, when the judges of the ICJ by a majority of 16 to 1 decided that the Aouzou Strip belonged to Chad. The court's judgement was implemented without delay, the two parties signing as early as April 4 an agreement concerning the practical modalities for the implementation of the judgement. Monitored by international observers, the withdrawal of Libyan troops from the Strip began on April 15 and was completed by May 10. The formal and final transfer of the Strip from Libya to Chad took place on May 30, when the sides signed a joint declaration stating that the Libyan withdrawal had been effected.[118]
Nigeria's 1983 economic austerity campaign produced strains with neighboring states, including Chad.[122] Nigeria expelled several hundred thousand foreign workers, mostly from its oil industry, which faced drastic cuts as a result of declining world oil prices.[122] At least 30,000 of those expelled were Chadians.[122] Despite these strains, however, Nigerians had assisted in the halting process of achieving stability in Chad, and both nations reaffirmed their intention to maintain close ties.[122]
Chad has an embassy in Abuja and a consulate in Maiduguri.
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 March 1961[123]
On December 24, 2005, Chad declared itself as in a "state of belligerance" with neighboring Sudan. The conflict in the border region of Darfur has become an increasingly bi-national affair as increasing numbers of Sudanese flee to refugee camps in Chad, and Sudanese government troops and militias cross the borders to strike at both these camps and specific ethnic groups. Although the Government of Chad and the Government of Sudan signed the Tripoli Agreement on February 8, 2006, officially ending hostilities, fighting continues. On August 11, 2006, Chad and Sudan resumed relations at the behest of Libyan leaderMuammar Gaddafi.[124]
Chad broke diplomatic relations with Sudan at least twice in 2006 because it believed the Sudanese government was supporting Janjaweed and UFDC rebels financially and with arms. Two accords were signed, the Tripoli Accord, which was signed on February 8 and failed to end the fighting, and the more recently signed N'Djamena Agreement. On May 11, 2008, Sudan announced it was cutting diplomatic relations with Chad, claiming that it was helping rebels in Darfur to attack the Sudanese capital Khartoum.[125]
Chad has an embassy in Khartoum and a consulate-general in Geneina.
Chad and Mexico established diplomatic relations on 25 February 1976.[134] In May 2002, Chadian Prime Minister Nagoum Yamassoum paid a visit to the Mexican city of Monterrey to attend the Monterrey Consensus conference.[135]
Chad is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.[136]
Mexico is accredited to Chad from its embassy in Cairo, Egypt.[137]
The US embassy in N'Djamena, established at Chadian independence in 1960, was closed from the onset of the heavy fighting in the city in 1980 until the withdrawal of the Libyan forces at the end of 1981. It was reopened in January 1982. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Information Service (USIS) offices resumed activities in Chad in September 1983. The United States Department of State issued a travel advisory to U.S. citizens in 2009, recommending that citizens not affiliated with humanitarian efforts avoid all travel to eastern Chad and the Chad/Central African Republic border area due to insecurity caused by banditry, recent clashes between Chadian government and rebel forces, and political tension between Chad and Sudan.[139] President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on September 24, 2017, suspending the entry of Chadian nationals to the United States. The proclamation claims that the government of Chad "does not adequately share public-safety and terrorism-related information..."[140] On April 10, 2018, the US Government lifted travel restrictions on Chad.[141][142][143]
Despite centuries-old cultural ties to the Arab World, the Chadian Government maintained few significant ties to Arab states in North Africa or West Asia in the 1980s.[122] In September 1972, Chad had broken off relations with the State of Israel under Chadian PresidentFrançois Tombalbaye.[122] President Habré hoped to pursue closer relations with Arab states as a potential opportunity to break out of Chad's post-imperial dependence on France, and to assert Chad's unwillingness to serve as an arena for superpower rivalries.[122] In addition, as a northern Muslim, Habré represented a constituency that favored Afro-Arab solidarity, and hoped Islam would provide a basis for national unity in the long term.[122] For these reasons, he was expected to seize opportunities during the 1990s to pursue closer ties with the Arab World.[122] In 1988, Chad recognized the State of Palestine, which maintains a mission in N'Djamena.[146] In November 2018, President Deby visited Israel and announced his intention to restore diplomatic relations.[147] Chad and Israel re-established diplomatic relations in January 2019.[148] In February 2023, Chad opened an embassy in Israel.[149]
During the 1980s, Arab opinion on the Chadian–Libyan conflict over the Aouzou Strip was divided.[122] Several Arab states supported Libyan territorial claims to the Strip, among the most outspoken of which was Algeria, which provided training for anti-Habré forces, although most recruits for its training programs were from Nigeria or Cameroon, recruited and flown to Algeria by Libya.[122] The Progressive Socialist Party of Lebanon also sent troops to support Muammar Gaddafi's efforts against Chad in 1987.[122] In contrast, numerous other Arab states opposed the Libyan actions,[150] and expressed their desire to see the dispute over the Aouzou Strip settled peacefully.[151][122] By the end of 1987, Algiers and N'Djamena were negotiating to improve relations and Algeria helped mediate the end of the Aouzou Strip conflict.[152]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 28 November 1972,[154] but China severed diplomatic relations with Chad in 1997 when the country resumed diplomatic ties with Taiwan.[155] According to a joint communique signed by the two countries when they resumed diplomatic ties starting from August 6, 2006, Chad recognized there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory[156]
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 10 January 1961,[162] but diplomatic relations were broken on 28 November 1972[163] and re-established on 20 January 2019[164]
In November 2018, Chadian President Idriss Déby paid a visit to Israel.[165] In January 2019 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a visit to Chad. During the visit, both nations re-established diplomatic relations since relations were cut in 1972.[148] In February 2023, Chad opened an embassy in Israel.[149]
Chad and Taiwan had relations from 1962 to 1972 when Chad first switched diplomatic recognition to the People's Republic of China. Chad then reestablished bilateral ties with Taiwan from 1997 to 2006. Since August 2006, Chad has granted diplomatic recognition to China.
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 7 April 1973[171]
Chad has an embassy in Abu Dhabi and a consulate-general in Dubai.
UAE has an embassy in N'Djamena.
UAE opened coordination office for foreign aid in Chad in August 2023.[172]
Europe
Chad is officially non-aligned but maintains close relations with France, its former colonial power, which has about 1,200 troops stationed in the capital N'Djamena. It receives economic aid from countries of the European Community, the United States, and various international organizations. Libya supplies aid and has an ambassador resident in N'Djamena. Traditionally strong ties with the Western community have weakened over the past two years due to a dispute between the Government of Chad and the World Bank over how the profits from Chad's petroleum reserves are allocated. Although oil output to the West has resumed and the dispute has officially been resolved, resentment towards what the Déby administration considered "foreign meddling" lingers.
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 12 August 1960[175]
France was Chad's most important foreign donor and patron for the first three decades following independence in 1960.[122] At the end of the 1980s, economic ties were still strong, and France provided development assistance in the form of loans and grants.[122] It was no longer Chad's leading customer for agricultural exports, but it continued to provide substantial military support.
Chad remained a member of the African Financial Community, which linked the value of its currency, the CFA franc, to the French franc.[122] French private and government investors owned a substantial portion of Chad's industrial and financial institutions, and the French treasury backed the Bank of Central African States, which served as the central bank for Chad and six other member nations.[122] Chad's dependence on France declined slightly during Habré's tenure as president, in part because other foreign donors and investors returned as the war subsided and also because increased rainfall since 1985 improved food production.[122] French official attitudes toward Chad had changed from the 1970s policies under the leadership of Giscard d'Estaing to those of the Mitterrand era of the 1980s.[122] Economic, political, and strategic goals, which had emphasized maintaining French influence in Africa, exploiting Chad's natural resources, and bolstering francophone Africa's status as a bulwark against the spread of Soviet influence, had been replaced by nominally anticolonialist attitudes.[122] The election in France of the Socialist government in 1981 had coincided with conditions of near-anarchy in Chad, leading France's Socialist Party to reaffirm its ideological stance against high-profile intervention in Africa.[122] Hoping to avoid a confrontation with Libya, another important client state in the region, President Mitterrand limited French military involvement to a defense of the region surrounding N'Djamena in 1983 and 1984.[122] Then, gradually increasing its commitment to reinforce Habré's presidency, France once again increased its military activity in Chad.[122] In 2024, Chad breaks its defense agreements with France, dating from 1966.[176]
Chad–Romania relations were established on July 15, 1969.[180] However, neither country has an embassy in the other's capital, and although an agreement on trade was signed in 1969, followed by an agreement on economic and technical cooperation in 1971, as of 2007[update], the volume of bilateral trade remained insignificant.[181]
In November 2007, Romania announced that they would deploy 120 troops to Chad and the Central African Republic in connection with a European Union peacekeeping mission there.[182] Romania continued to condemn violence in Chad and blamed it on rebel groups.[183] However, by mid-2008, Romanian defence minister Teodor Meleşcanu indicated that his country would not send further troops to the mission in Chad, stating that they had reached their limits and did not want involvement in a war theatre.[184]
^Année africaine (in French). Éditions A. Pedone. 1963. p. 300. 3 septembre. — M. Gandion , représentant du Tchad au Gabon , présente ses lettres de créances à M. Léon M'Ba.
^Revue de la communauté France-Eurafrique, Issues 148-157 (in French). 1964. p. 26.
^Soviet Foreign Policy: 1945-1980. Progress Publishers. 1981. pp. 642–681.
^Africa Research Bulletin. Blackwell. 1966. p. 443. ... M. Toure is also Mali's Ambassador to Chad, where he presented his credentials on January 15th.
^Pregled razvoja medjunarodno-pravnih odnosa jugoslovenskih zemalja od 1800 do danas (3). 1968. p. 831.
^Petruf, Pavol. Československá zahraničná politika 1945 – 1992 (in Slovak). pp. 99–119.
^Africa Research Bulletin. Blackwell. 1967. p. 834. Chad-Ghana. M. John Quashie, the new Ghanian Ambassador to Chad, with residence in Kinshasa, has presented his credentials to President Tombalbaye (ATP 24/7)
^Summary of World Broadcasts: Non-Arab Africa, Issues 2659-2700. British Broadcasting Corporation. Monitoring Service. 1968. p. 4.
^Africa Research Bulletin. Blackwell. 1968. p. 1144.
^Bulletin de l'Afrique noire - Issues 535-559 (in French). Ediafric. 1969.
^ARR: Arab Report and Record. Economic Features, Limited. 1970. p. 623.
^News Review on West Asia. Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. 1972. p. 10.
^Les Élites africaines - Volume 6 (in French). Édiafric. 1985. p. 187. SANE Antoine Pascal Né ... ambassadeur du Sénégal au Zaïre ( mai 1972 - janvier 1975 ) , ... cumulativement ambassadeur au Tchad ( octobre 1972 - janvier 1975) ...
^Revue française d'études politiques africaines Issues 145-149 (in French). Société africaine d'édition. 1978. p. 17. TCHAD ...10 - Annonce de l'établissement de relations diplomatiques avec l'Autriche .
^West Africa - Issues 3155-3180. West Africa Publishing Company Limited. 1978. p. 226. ... Austria and Chad have decided to establish diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level .
^Dyplomacja polska w XX wieku. Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie. 2006. pp. 126–132.
^"Mise au point" (in French). Government of Chad. 20 July 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2013."deux parties ont décidé d’élever leurs relations diplomatiques"
^Filasṭīn al-thawrah, 779–781; 783–786 (in Arabic). Munaẓẓamat al-Taḥrīr al-Filasṭīnīyah. 1990. p. 6. ٨٩/١٢/٨ ، حيث قدم السفير الفلسطيني يومها أوراق اعتماده الى الرئيس حبري.
^"Travel Warning – Chad". U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs. June 2, 2009. Archived from the original on August 27, 2009. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
