Kuwait supports Egyptian stance on GERD issue: FM Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohamed Al-Sabah

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Mon, 16 Nov 2020 - 11:32 GMT

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Mon, 16 Nov 2020 - 11:32 GMT

CAIRO – 16 November 2020: Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohamed Al-Sabah asserted that his country supports the Egyptian stance on the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

In statements to the journalists on the sidelines of his visit to the Palestinian embassy to offer condolences over the death of secretary of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Saeb Erekat, Sheikh Ahmed said that Kuwait supports Egypt especially in relation to its national security.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry left Kuwait, Monday wrapping up a three-day visit in which he held talks with Emir Sheikh Nawaf al Ahmed al Jaber al Sabah.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry arrived in Kuwait, Saturday in a 3-day visit to convey a message from President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to Emir Sheikh Nawaf al Ahmed al Jaber al Sabah, inviting him to visit Egypt.

The top diplomat also met with Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Mashaal al Ahmed al Jaber al Sabah and Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled al Hamad al Sabah, as well as Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nasser al Mohamed al Sabah.

Constructions in the Grand Renaissance Dam started on April 2, 2011 at a cost of $4.8 billion. It was built by the Italian construction and engineering company Salini Impergilo. The Italian company is headquartered in Milan. The dam is located on the Blue Nile with a capacity of 74 billion cubic meters, and is expected to generate up to 6,000 megawatts of power.

The disagreement among Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia dates back to May 2011 when Ethiopia started building the dam; Egypt voiced concern over its water share [55.5 billion cubic meters]. Three years later, a series of tripartite talks between the two countries along with Sudan began to reach an agreement, while Ethiopia continued the dam construction.

In 2015, the three countries signed the Declaration of Principles, per which the downstream countries should not be negatively affected by the construction of the dam. In October 2019, Egypt blamed Addis Ababa for hindering a final agreement concerning a technical problem, calling for activating Article No. 10 of the Declaration of Principles, which stipulates that if the three countries could not find a solution to these disputes, they have to ask for mediation.

The main point of disagreement at present is that Ethiopia does not want a binding agreement, which has caused the suspension of talks. An agreement was reached in January but Ethiopia did not attend the signing meeting in Washington. Later, several negotiations rounds took place but were in vain culminating into the current stalemate.

 

 

 

 

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