THE IRRIGATION ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan had their first online tripartite technical talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on Tuesday more than three months after the failure of the last round of talks that were supposed to see the signing of the final agreement in Washington. “The meeting is a continuation of the previous negotiating rounds on the Renaissance Dam in order to reach a comprehensive and satisfactory agreement that meets the interests of the three countries and fulfils the aspirations of their peoples,” the Sudanese Irrigation Ministry said in a statement on Monday in which it invited the Egyptian and Ethiopian irrigation ministers to the meeting The Arab Republic of Egypt is willing to negotiate for a fair and balanced agreement that serves the interests of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, but it stresses on the neccessity of setting a tight time frame for the negotiations to be concluded and finalized, in order to prevent it from becoming a new tool for reneging on the commitments included in the declaration of principles signed by the three states in 2015, according to a statement issued by the national security council following a meeting headed by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi on Tuesday. The statement highlighted the fact that “the Sudanese invitation was issued on the same day that the Ethiopian authorities reaffirmed their intention to proceed with the filling of the Renaissance Dam reservoir without reaching an agreement, which is contrary to Ethiopia's legal obligations in declaration of principles and cast doubts on the negotiating process as well as the results that may be reached.” Despite the above, the statement added ,Egypt will participate in this meeting in order to explore the political will to reach an agreement, and to confirm Egypt's continued good will in this regard. The tripartite talks resumed after months of procrastination from the Ethiopian side and just one month before Addis Ababa was to start filling the dam, said an anonymous diplomat. “If you ask me whether I am optimistic, the answer will be a very cautious ‘yes.' Whether the talks will reap its fruits or not is yet unclear.” The tripartite meeting was scheduled to discuss procedural issues related to the role of observers and outstanding negotiating issues. Three observers from the United States, South Africa and the European Union Commission attended the meeting. The tripartite negotiations came to a halt in late February after Ethiopia skipped the final round of talks in Washington. Egypt initialed the resulting draft agreement but Sudan declined to sign until Ethiopia does as well. However, Sudan has recently shown a more supportive stand towards Egypt. In addition to pushing for the resumption of negotiations, Sudanese Foreign Minister Asma Abdalla said in an interview this week that Khartoum believes Ethiopia “would think twice” about filling the controversial dam before an agreement is reached if it is met by “a strong stance” from Sudan and Egypt. Abdalla said Ethiopia has the right to build dams within its territory and to benefit from its water resources, however, it should adhere to international conventions and the Declaration of Principles.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 11 June, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
