Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Friday said the country will not accept the violation of its rights to the water of the Nile River, which is the country’s lifeline, reported Egypt Independent.
The country gets 90 percent of its fresh water supply from Nile, and fears the under-construction dam will restrict the water supplies.
Madbouly, who is currently on a visit to the United States, was speaking in a meeting with Republican Senator James Rich, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Bob Menendez, the leader of the Democratic Minority Committee.
During the meeting, Madbouly reviewed the developments in negotiations with Ethiopia and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). He explained the governing foundations of Egypt’s position over the past years in the protracted stages of negotiations. He said Egypt is proposing a solution that takes into account the interests of all parties. Rich and Menendez expressed their great hope for a solution to the issue as soon as possible.
Last week, Egypt’s Water Resources and Irrigation Ministry said the negotiations between Cairo and Addis Ababa over the GERD dam reached a deadlock after the Ethiopian government rejected proposals on the rules of filling the reservoir and the operating the dam. Ethiopia refused to discuss any binding rules or to have an international mediator to get the issue resolved.
Notably, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia had agreed on 10 governing points called the Declaration of Principles, the most important of which are the methods of filling and operating the dam, in March 2015.
On Sunday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced that he would soon meet with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in the Russian capital Moscow to resume talks over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dilemma.
While Sisi didn’t disclose the time of the meeting, he said he will co-chair a two-day Russia-Africa summit on Oct. 23 in the coastal city of Sochi.
