Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki reached Sudan on Tuesday for talks with Sudanese officials amid tensions over a longtime border dispute between Sudan and Ethiopia, reported Shabait. He was received by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, head of Sudan’s ruling sovereign council, at Khartoum’s international airport.
Soon after landing, Eritrean President Isaias had a meeting with the President of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Burhan. The two leaders reaffirmed the commitment of both countries to further consolidate their bilateral ties rooted in common history and shared values.
They further agreed to strengthen their efforts in the implementation of the Agreement of Cooperation reached between the two countries in the political, economic, social, security, and military sectors. They also exchanged views on current regional issues of interest to the two countries.
The Eritrean delegation also included Foreign Minister Osman Saleh and Presidential Adviser Yemane Ghebreab.
The visit comes after Sudan accused a third party of siding with Ethiopia in the border dispute between the two countries. It was likely hinting at Eritrea, which has deployed troops to Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray region to fight alongside security forces in the conflict there.
After the accusation, Eritrea sent its foreign minister to Sudan who assured Khartoum that Eritrea was not part of the dispute between Sudan and Ethiopia.
The decades-long dispute is related to large swaths of agricultural land that Sudan claims are within its borders in the al-Fashqa area, which Ethiopian farmers have cultivated for years.
The dispute between the two countries escalated in November after Sudan deployed troops to the territories it says are occupied by Ethiopian farmers and militias.
The Tigray conflict in Ethiopia has also resulted in an influx of refugees into Sudan.
Sudan and Ethiopia have held rounds of talks to settle the dispute, most recently in Khartoum in December, but have not made progress so far.
