Sudan wants larger authority for the African Union (AU) experts to boost the resolution of the long-standing Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute with Addis Ababa and Cairo, the Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources said following the end of the recent negotiating roun
DOHA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd November, 2020) Sudan wants larger authority for the African Union (AU) experts to boost the resolution of the long-standing Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute with Addis Ababa and Cairo, the Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources said following the end of the recent negotiating round.
On Sunday, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia resumed the AU-sponsored dam talks by way of a videoconference. Prior to that, the most recent round took place on October 27, when the three parties agreed to continue negotiations to finalize a draft agreement on Addis Ababa's massive hydroelectric project.
"The tripartite talks between Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia on the Renaissance Dam led by the three countries' ministers of water resources, with Sudan as an organizer, were resumed today. Sudan has provided its perspective to abandon the previous counterproductive approach of talks and replace it with another, a more effective one, which enhances the role of the African Union experts in helping bridge the gap between the three sides and brings their viewpoints closer," the ministry said on Sunday.
The Sudanese negotiating team has proposed that the negotiating process be continued in line with a specific timetable and a clear list of outputs, which will be submitted to the AU Commission, according to the ministry.
The trilateral session has reviewed "documents that were presented during the long-term negotiations," the ministry added, noting that the sides agreed to continue discussing the issue via a six-member team, with two representatives from each state, "to set a framework for the experts' mission to provide their report to the water ministers on Tuesday."
A meeting between technical and legal experts will convene on Monday to discuss a strategy of talks in the upcoming period, the Egyptian Irrigation Ministry has said, adding that the team will submit its results to the three countries' ministers on November 3.
Ethiopia has long been deadlocked in the Nile dam dispute with Sudan and Egypt, which fear that Addis Ababa's mega hydroelectric project, which has been under construction since 2011, would reduce their access to water. The talks between the three countries are being mediated by South Africa, the current holder of the AU chairmanship.
