WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan on Wednesday agreed to solve their dispute over the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile River by next January.
The foreign ministers of the three countries met with U.S. treasury secretary and the president of the World Bank in Washington on Wednesday, according to a statement jointly released by the three African countries, the United States, and the World Bank.
"The ministers reaffirmed their joint commitment to reach a comprehensive, cooperative, adaptive, sustainable, and mutually beneficial agreement on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and to establish a clear process for fulfilling that commitment in accordance with the 2015 Declaration of Principles," the joint statement said.
The ministers agreed to work toward completion of an agreement by Jan. 15, 2020, and would attend two meetings in Washington in December and January to assess and support progress, according to the joint statement.
The joint statement also noted that the foreign ministers agree to hold four technical governmental meetings at the level of water ministers, and the World Bank and the United States would support and attend the meetings as observers.
Ethiopia started building the GERD in 2011, while Egypt, a downstream Nile Basin country that relies on the river for its fresh water, is concerned that the dam might affect its 55.5-billion-cubic-meter annual share of the water resources of the river.
