Talks in Washington between officials from Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan regarding the filling and operations of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) ended with a joint statement setting guidelines for future meetings.
Ethiopia’s downstream Nile neighbours especially Egypt have been opposed to the building of the dam which they fear could reduce their share of water from Africa’s longest river.
According to the statement seen by APA on Tuesday, the Foreign ministers of Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan agreed to hold two meetings in the coming weeks in a bid to reach conclusive results over the technical issues mainly on filling and operating the $5 billion dam being built on the Nile River.
Appreciating the observer status of the US and the World Bank, the meeting noted the progress that has been achieved during similar talks in Addis Ababa and Cairo.
It also sets the direction for the next technical meetings that will be held in Khartoum and Addis Ababa.
According to the joint statement, the upcoming meetings in Sudan and Ethiopia are expected to develop technical rules for the filling and operation of the GERD, define drought conditions and decide on mitigating measures to be taken if such weather situations occur.
The natural flow of water in the given year and the release rates from the GERD will determine measures that will be taken to mitigate drought, the statement said.
It also pointed out a commitment by Ethiopia to implement the technical rules and guidelines in filling and operating the dam.
However, the statement further said all the three countries may jointly participate in adjusting the implementation of the technical rules and guidelines in filling and operating the dam in accordance with the hydro-logical conditions in the given year.
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the three countries agreed to meet in Washington on January 13, 2020 to review the results of their upcoming meetings in Khartoum and Addis Ababa.
MG/as/APA