Sudan calls for smooth, effective trilateral negotiations on Ethiopia's Nile dam

KHARTOUM -- Sudan on Monday called for reaching understandings between Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia to start a smooth and effective negotiation on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

"Sudan is the most in need for consensus among the three countries, and has been negatively affected by the prolonged negotiation without reaching a binding legal agreement on the filling and operation of the GERD," Sudan's acting Irrigation and Water Resources Minister Daw Al-Bait Abdul-Rahman said in a meeting with Egyptian Ambassador to Sudan Hossam Eissa.

The meeting was part of the two countries' efforts to push the negotiation issue on the Ethiopian Nile dam, Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported.

"The remaining clauses of difference among Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia require political will from all parties," the minister said.

The Egyptian ambassador delivered a message to the Sudanese minister from his Egyptian counterpart, voicing Egypt's full readiness for cooperation and coordination in all fields, according to SUNA.

The meeting discussed Ethiopia's decision to generate electricity from the GERD and reviewed the activation of cooperation mechanisms between Sudan and Egypt to achieve the common goals of the two countries and the Nile Basin countries.

Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia have been negotiating under the African Union over technical and legal issues related to the filling and operation of the GERD.

Sudan proposed a mediation quartet of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and the African Union regarding the GERD issue, while Ethiopia rejected the proposal.

Ethiopia, which started building the GERD in 2011, expects to produce more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity from the project, while Egypt and Sudan, both downstream Nile Basin countries that rely on the river for its freshwater, are concerned that the dam might affect their water resources.