CAIRO — A few days after Egypt and Sudan signed a military cooperation agreement March 2, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi visited Khartoum March 6, in a move that carried political and security messages against Ethiopia's decision to fill the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) reservoir without consulting Egypt and Sudan.

Sisi had not visited Khartoum since the Sudanese revolution and the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. The official and diplomatic relations between the two countries had gained momentum recently, culminating in the military cooperation agreement. The chief of staff of the Egyptian army, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Farid, who arrived in Khartoum March 2, described the agreement as “achieving an unprecedented level of military cooperation … at a time when Egypt and Sudan face common challenges and multiple threats to the national security of the two countries.”

Speaking at a press conference following his March 6 meeting with Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, Sisi expressed his country’s dissatisfaction with the Ethiopian stances regarding the GERD and the attempts to control the waters of the Nile, saying, “We reject any approach that seeks to impose a status quo and extend control over the Blue Nile through unilateral measures that do not take into account the interests and rights of the two downstream countries,” stressing that the GERD affects the vital interests of Egypt and Sudan.

Speaking about the possibility of resuming the GERD negotiations, Sisi said, “We discussed ways to put the negotiations back on track by forming an international quartet made up of the United States, United Nations, European Union and African Union [AU] to mediate in the negotiation process,” noting that reaching a fair, balanced and legally binding agreement regarding filling and operating the GERD before the next flood season is imperative.