ADDIS ABABA, Sept 26 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — The second round of tripartite negotiations on the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) concluded without further details after an exchange of constructive ideas with a view to settling differences.
This was revealed by the head of the Ethiopian negotiating team, Seleshi Bekele, who held a two days dialolgue with representatives of Egypt and Sudan about the water filling and the annual operations of the GERD.
“Ethiopia reiterates its commitment to continue negotiating in good faith,” Bekele emphasized on social networks.
The new meeting held over the weekend was scheduled last month during the first round in Cairo, where the parties presented their proposals so as to reach a point beneficial to all, the local Foreign Ministry said.
The meetings are the result of a bilateral consultation between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on July 13 in Cairo.
Bekele recalled that the dialogue in Addis Ababa took place after the fourth filling of the dam was completed in accordance with the declaration of principles reached in 2015 between the respective countries.
The official reaffirmed Ethiopia’s position of equitable and reasonable use of the waters of the Nile River, as stipulated in the 2015 Declaration of Principles, as the only viable way to ensure fair employment.
Egypt’s Minister of Water and Irrigation, Hani Sewilam, and Sudan’s acting Minister of Water, Dawelbeit Abdelrahman Mansour Basher, participated in the negotiations. — NNN-PRENSA LATINA