Egyptian, Sudanese FMs agree on tightening bilateral relations

CAIRO - 26 January 2018: Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry met Friday with Sudanese counterpart, Ibrahim Ghandour on the sidelines of his participation in the Executive Council meetings of the 30th African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, to stress the depth of the historical relations between the two countries.

The two ministers agreed on immunizing the relation between the two countries against the false information, and to take practical measures to restore it to its natural course, according to the ministry’s spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid.

Shoukry and Ghandour stressed the patriotic responsibility of media in the two countries, and the necessity of not paying attention to any rumors or wrong information that may harm bilateral relations.


Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry (L) with Sudanese counterpart Ibrahim Ghandour (R) on the sidelines of his participation in the Executive Council meetings of the 30th AU Summit in Addis Ababa on Jan. 26, 2018
Shoukry headed on Wednesday to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to participate in the 30th AU summit and to lead the Peace and Security Council meeting. He headed Egypt’s delegation during the meetings of the executive council as they will discuss several economic reports regarding Africa’s development agenda for 2063.

This year’s AU summit will be titled “Winning the fight against corruption: a sustainable approach to Africa's transformation”. This title is considered as the AU’s slogan in 2018.

Recently, the bilateral relation tensed concerning the controversial Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Sudanese media claimed that Egypt has sought to exclude Sudan from the tripartite talks with Ethiopia. On January 8, Foreign Minister Shoukry stressed that Egypt did not ask Ethiopia to exclude Sudan from negotiations.

On January 4, Sudan’s ambassador to Cairo Abdel Mahmoud Abdel Halim was withdrawn for consultation, according to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, which replied that Cairo was evaluating the situation in order to act accordingly.

Egypt has voiced its concern over Ethiopia’s dam construction, as it would affect Egypt’s 55 billion cubic meter share of the Nile water. However, Addis Ababa sees the dam is necessary for its development and would not negatively affect the downstream countries (Egypt and Sudan).

A tripartite summit between leaders of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan will be held on the sidelines of the 30th African Union Summit to resume halted talks by the tripartite technical committee on the Ethiopian Dam.