CAIRO — A third round of talks on technical differences over the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) ended in Khartoum Dec. 22. The debate over the disputed matters was again deferred to the fourth and last meeting, scheduled to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Jan. 9-10.

The technical meeting was held as part of the road map that was agreed upon in Washington Nov. 6, hosted by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and attended by World Bank President David Malpass. Jan. 15 has been set as a deadline to solve technical differences on the filling and operation of the GERD in four technical meetings at the level of water ministers and local experts, in the presence of representatives of the US government and World Bank. Article 10 of the Agreement on the Declaration of Principles, signed between the Egyptian, Sudanese and Ethiopian presidents in March 2015, calls for mediation by a fourth party in case the dispute continues.

The Egyptian negotiating delegation’s position on the filling and operation of the GERD remains focused on several technical issues, including preventing Ethiopian measures that would lead to a drop of water levels in Lake Nasser to less than 165 meters or to a decrease of the minimum annual release of 40 billion cubic meters in the Blue Nile.

Nevertheless, the Egyptian delegation emphasized its flexibility in discussions of the Ethiopian and Sudanese proposals. Addressing the opening session in Khartoum, Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Ati said Dec. 21, “Egypt has pondered over the observations and concerns Ethiopia voiced, and is ready to reconsider some aspects of our position in order to see these concerns addressed.”