Why the sudden shift in Sudan’s position in Nile dam dossier?
Sudan has recently shifted its position in the negotiations on Addis Ababa’s controversial dam on the Nile River, as Khartoum grows more concerned about the dam’s impact on its own dams and agriculture.
CAIRO — Khartoum has recently escalated its position on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) crisis, with Sudanese officials rejecting the Ethiopian positions on the dossier.
On Jan. 10, Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Omar Qamar al-Din announced that Sudan expressed objections with Ethiopia and the African Union (AU) because of Addis Ababa’s resolve to continue filling the GERD without reaching an agreement with Sudan and Egypt. He said that his country will not continue with this “vicious cycle” of negotiations on the Nile dam.
Din’s statements came as the AU resumed tripartite negotiations on the GERD on Jan. 10, before they collapsed amid Sudan’s call for a change in the negotiations mechanism and a greater role of AU experts.
Ibrahim Nasser, a Sudanese researcher specialized in international affairs, told Al-Monitor that the essence of the Sudanese-Ethiopian dispute lies in Sudan’s insistence on a binding legal document for all parties to the crisis regarding potential disputes or disagreements over the dam.
