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- The Sudanese irrigation ministry said that the parties discussed the annual releases for Egypt in the first technical meeting
- Cairo stuck to a US proposal made in Feb this year to narrow the gaps between two countries which Ethiopia declined
Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt on Wednesday discussed the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) but no agreement was reached on a mechanism for the long-term operation.
The Sudanese irrigation ministry said that the parties discussed the annual releases for Egypt in the first technical meeting, a statement cited by Sudanese daily the said.
Cairo stuck to a US proposal, which Ethiopia declined, made in February this year to narrow the gaps between two countries, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, Egypt rejected Ethiopia鈥檚 proposal on the amount of water that Addis Abba would release annually.
The US proposal includes rules for filling and operating the dam in Ethiopia. He also warned Ethiopia from filling the dam before an agreement is reached.
The Sudanese government has also warned against filling the reservoir of the dam before reaching an agreement between the three countries involved in the dam issue.
On Tuesday, Egypt鈥檚 President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi strongly rebuked Ethiopia, accusing Addis Ababa of stalling negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and moving ahead with plans to start filling the reservoir before reaching a deal.
鈥淎 timeline must be set to finish up negotiations, so it does not turn into a new tactic of stalling and shirking responsibility from the 2015 Declaration of Principles which all three countries agreed to,鈥� Sisi鈥檚 office said in a statement.
The agreement signed by Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan paved the way for diplomatic talks after Addis Ababa began construction of the dam nearly a decade ago.
The strongly-worded statement from Sisi鈥檚 office said Ethiopia鈥檚 position was 鈥渋nconsistent鈥� with its legal obligations and 鈥渃asts a shadow over the negotiations鈥�.
It came on the day the three countries resumed talks, after Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok coaxed Egypt and Ethiopia to resume negotiations to resolve their differences.
But Egypt said the invite 鈥渃omes three weeks too late鈥� as Ethiopian authorities had already 鈥渟ignalled their intention to move forward with filling the reservoir of the Renaissance Dam without reaching an agreement鈥�.