Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Dr. Selesh Bekele held a virtual meeting with his Sudanese counterpart, Professor Yassir Abbas Mohammed on ways of resuming of the trilateral negotiation of the controversial Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on Nile.
“The two ministers along with their respective delegation on Wednesday exchanged view on the procedural aspects of resuming the trilateral negotiations and other key concerns from each country.
The two sides further agreed to hold frequent bilateral meetings leading to the trilateral negotiations as soon as possible.
Tensions have been going up between Ethiopia and Egypt over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) after Egypt rejected Ethiopia’s new proposal on the filling of the dam.
Ethiopia reaffirmed that it would commence filling of the GERD’s reservoir next July during a ministerial meeting chaired by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed three weeks ago.
The water filling strategy for the dam has long been the most controversial issue and yet unresolved in the Nile talks between Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan.
Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sammy Shoukry submitted a 15-page complaint letter to the United Nations Security Council via Mohammed Endris, the Egyptian ambassador to the UN.
According to Ethiopia’s new water filling proposal, the dam will hold 4.9 billion cubic meters of water over the first two years and another 13.5 billion cubic meters during the third year to reach 595 meters above sea level.
Briefing the high-level officials, Minister of Water Irrigation and Energy Dr, Sileshi Bekele had said the filling of the dam will be managed without causing harm to the downstream countries, and Ethiopia respects the fair and rational water management guidelines.
MG/abj/APA