ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia and Egypt have agreed to hold further talks on the impact of an Ethiopian dam to quell tensions between the two countries, the foreign ministers of both nations said yesterday.
“We agreed that we will start immediately on consultations at both the technical level... and the political level,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr told reporters, after meetings in Addis Ababa with his Ethiopian counterpart Tedros Adhanom.
The countries have been embroiled in a heated row after Ethiopia began diverting the Blue Nile River last month for the construction of the 6000 MW Grand Renaissance Dam.
Concerned over how the dam could impact downstream water levels, Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi warned that “all options are open” over its construction. But Amr and Tedros said that relations between the countries remain “brotherly” and that they will continue talks on the impact of the dam.
Amr said that previous statements had been made “in the heat of the moment.”
“Both ministers stressed the need to continue the dialogue and communication with each other,” they said in a joint statement.
AFP
