Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia foreign, water ministers resume meetings in Khartoum

Foreign and water resources ministers of the three Nile Basin countries; Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, on Wednesday resumed their closed-door meetings here to discuss pending issues on Ethiopia's Renaissance Dam on both the political and the technical tracks.
The meeting is a resumption of the joint meeting among the three foreign ministers in Addis Ababa in February to prepare a tripartite agreement on the dam's construction to ensure maximum benefits and reduce the negative impact of the dam construction on the Nile Basin countries.
In statements to MENA, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said the ministerial meeting is part of a series of meetings to settle water issues on both the technical and political impact.
The meetings aim at crystallizing a comprehensive framework to achieve common interests of the three countries and rebuild confidence, he said.
The three countries will continue coordination to achieve their common interests in all domains of joint cooperation and not only regarding the Ethiopia dam.
Ethiopia is the source of around 85% of Egypt's Nile's water, mainly through rainfall in its highlands. Over 90% of Egyptians rely on water from the Nile's flows.
Egypt fears that the dlrs 4.6 billion hydropower plant, which Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, will diminish its share of the river's water, arguing its historic water rights must be maintained.