The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Sudan and Egypt have affirmed keenness to enhance cooperation between the two brotherly countries and activate the mechanisms of joint bilateral cooperation.
They also affirmed in a joint statement issued today on the visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Mariam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi to Egypt and her meeting with Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry continuous exchange of visits and consultations.
The statement pointed out that within the framework of fraternal contacts and continuous consultation between the governments of Egypt and Sudan, and in order to consolidate the eternal ties and common interests of the people of the Nile Valley, Cairo today received the Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, on her first visit to Egypt as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the government of the Sudanese revolution.
This important visit comes within the framework of the keenness to enhance cooperation between the two brotherly countries and activate joint bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and an affirmation of Egypt’s support to Sudan during this important historical juncture.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry welcomed the visit of his Sudanese counterpart and the accompanying delegation, and affirmed Egypt’s firm commitment to supporting the transitional phase in Sudan, and standing beside the aspirations of the Sudanese people for progress and prosperity and achieving the goals of the glorious December 2018 Revolution, once again congratulating the Sudanese people for signing the Peace Agreement.
For her part, Her Excellency the Minister Dr. Mariam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi expressed her appreciation and thanks to her brother, Sameh Shoukry, for the warm reception and generous hospitality, reiterating thanks and appreciation to the Egyptian side for the initiatives to assist the Sudanese people in all circumstances.
During the bilateral talks, the two sides discussed opportunities to develop cooperation in the field of investment in a way that achieves the mutual interests of the two countries.
This is besides developing cooperation, especially in the field of transport, through the railway linking project between the two countries, in a way that contributes to opening wider horizons for economic and commercial cooperation between them, and electricity inter-connection project, which is currently increasing its capacity from 80 megawatts to 300 Megawatts, and other means of cooperation in the fields of air, land, river and marine transport.
The two ministers’ discussions dealt with means of boosting trade relations and economic exchange between the two countries that reflect the size of the relations between them.
Regarding the issue of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, the two countries stressed the importance of reaching a binding legal agreement on filling and operating the dam that would achieve the interests of the three countries and preserve the water rights of Egypt and Sudan and limit the negative impacts of this project on the two downstream countries.
The two countries also affirmed that they have political will and serious desire to achieve this goal at the earliest possible opportunity.
They also called on Ethiopia to show goodwill and engage in an effective negotiation process in order to reach this agreement.
The two countries expressed their appreciation for the effort made by the sisterly Republic of South Africa during its presidency of the African Union in guiding the path of the Renaissance Dam negotiations as they welcomed the Democratic Republic of Congo assuming leadership of these talks.
The two ministers also expressed concern on the stalled negotiations that took place under the auspices of the African Union, and stressed that Ethiopia’s implementation of the second phase of filling the Renaissance Dam unilaterally would pose a direct threat to the water security of Egypt and Sudan, especially with regard to the operation of the Sudanese dams and threatening lives of 20 million Sudanese citizens.
They also stressed that this measure would be a concrete violation of the Declaration of Principles agreement concluded between the three countries in Khartoum on March 23, 2015.
The two ministers also affirmed that the two countries adhere to the proposal submitted by the Republic of Sudan and supported by the Arab Republic of Egypt on developing the negotiation mechanism that is sponsored by the African Union through the formation of an international quartet led and managed by the Democratic Republic of Congo in its capacity as the current chair of the African Union and includes the United Nations, the European Union and the United States to mediate in the negotiations, as the two countries called on these four parties to adopt this proposal, announce their acceptance of it, and launch these negotiations at the earliest possible opportunity.
For her part, the Sudanese Minister reviewed the current efforts exerted to implement the requirements of the peace agreement in Sudan and the resulting reshaping of the Sudanese government, the economic challenges facing Sudan and the efforts made by the Sudanese government in this regard.
The minister also tackled the recent moves by the Sudanese Armed Forces to maintain state sovereignty over its eastern borders with Ethiopia that come within the framework of Sudan’s respect for international agreements establishing borders and its endeavor to assert the state’s sovereignty peacefully and without resorting to violence.
Source: Suna
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