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.
Sudan's Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasser Abbas (L) and Minister for Foreign Affairs Omar Gamar al-Din, are pictured during a video conference meeting with their Egyptian and Ethopian counterparts, to discuss future steps in Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) negotiations, in the capital Khartoum on January 10, 2021. - Sudan warned today that it cannot continue the "vicious cycle" of negotiations with Egypt and Ethiopia in the long-running dispute over Addis Ababa's controversial Blue Ni
Sudan's Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasser Abbas (L) and Minister for Foreign Affairs Omar Gamar al-Din are pictured during a video conference meeting with their Egyptian and Ethopian counterparts, to discuss future steps in Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam negotiations, Khartoum, Sudan, Jan. 10, 2021. - Ashraf Shazly/AFP via Getty Images
Baher al-Kady
Baher al-Kady
@baheralkady

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.

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