Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia agree to talk more to settle Nile dispute
How are relations with the neighbours?
Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia on Sunday agreed to hold further talks to settle dispute over Ethiopia's huge dam on Blue Nile, said Sudan's water ministry. Previous such three-way talks have failed to produce agreement on operation and filling of the vast reservoir behind Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The hydropower project broke ground in 2011.
Three countries held a new round of talks by video conference on Sunday in the virtual presence of South African officials, as well as other international observers. South Africa currently holds the African Union's rotating chair.
"The meeting concluded ... that this week will be devoted to bilateral talks between the three countries, the experts, and the observers," Sudan's water ministry said in a statement.
"The meeting concluded ... that this week will be devoted to bilateral talks between the three countries, the experts, and the observers," Sudan's water ministry said in a statement.
The ministry noted that this week's talks would pave way "for the resumption of tripartite negotiations on Sunday January 10 in the hope of concluding by the end of January"
Egypt, which depends on the Nile for about 97 percent of its irrigation and drinking water, fears Ethiopia's dam would severely cut its water share.
Sudan hopes the dam will help ameliorate flooding, but has also warned that millions of lives would be at "great risk" if no binding agreement was reached.
Ethiopia says the hydroelectric power produced at the dam is vital to meet the power needs of its population.
It insists downstream countries' water supplies will not be affected.
The Nile, the world's longest river, is a lifeline supplying both water and electricity to the 10 countries it traverses.
Its main tributaries, the White and Blue Niles, converge in the Sudanese capital Khartoum before flowing north through Egypt to drain into the Mediterranean Sea.
(With AFP inputs)