Egypt will host next round of talks on Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Reports

The Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources announced that the next round of talks about the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will be hosted by Cairo on December 2 and 3. A ministerial meeting on the Dam was held on November 6 in Addis Ababa where the foreign ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan reaffirmed their joint commitment for a comprehensive, cooperative, adaptive, sustainable as well as mutually beneficial agreement on the filing along with operation of the GERD in order to establish a transparent process for fulfilling the commitment in accordance with the Declaration of Principles of 2015. 

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To reach an agreement by January 15

Based on the outcomes of the ministerial meeting on November 6, three countries have come together to hold a series of meetings so that an agreement can be reached by January 15, 2020. The participants have also agreed to hold four more technical meetings involving the government at the level of water ministers from the three countries along with the World Bank and the United States who would support and attend the meeting as observers. According to the press statement by the ministry, the technical aspects of the project including the filing and operation of the dam were discussed earlier. 

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Other decisions

The ministers from the country also discussed how to cope with the droughts, protracted drought and refill the situation while also tackling the coordination mechanism between the three countries where the countries also voiced their stance on various issues. There has been a long-running diplomatic standoff overbuilding and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has heightened the stress between the African countries. Egypt worries that the construction of the dam will worsen the scarcity of water in the area. President Sisi had earlier said that both leaders were willing to discuss the issue and hope to solve it anyhow. Both the leaders have also spoken on the day when the Ethiopian Prime Minister won a Nobel Peace Prize. According to Egyptian presidency spokesman Bassam Rady, the main concern of the talk will be to overcome any obstacle in the negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.  

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(With ANI inputs)