Sisi, Burhan urge international efforts towards binding deal on GERD

Sisi, Burhan urge international efforts towards binding deal on GERD

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and head of the Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan called on Saturday for enhancing bilateral, regional, and international efforts to reach a binding legal deal on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

El-Sisi travelled to Khartoum today on his first visit to Sudan following the formation of the Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council in August 2019.

During their meeting, El-Sisi and Al-Burhan reiterated the need to support the Sudanese proposal to form a quartet committee composed of the United Nations, African Union, European Union, and United States to mediate between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia over the filling and operation of the GERD, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement.

El-Sisi and Al-Burhan affirmed the need to reach a comprehensive, integrated, binding legal agreement on GERD, which would secure the interests of the three countries and limit the harms and impact of the dam on Egypt and Sudan.

Rounds of talks among the three concerned countries in the GERD issue have ended in deadlock, with Sudan dismissing the way talks are currently held as "unproductive“ and with Egypt blaming the stalemate on Ethiopia's intransigence.

Ethiopia frequently affirmed that it would