CAIRO, 8 April, 2021 (TON): In the backdrop of failure in the DRC’s GERD talks, the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said on Wednesday that all options are open if a drop of water belonging to Egypt is touched.

Both Egypt and Sudan blamed Ethiopia for the failure of the latest round of talks.

While conveying message to Ethiopia, the Egyptian President said, “Cooperation is better.”

He added that Egypt’s concerns over the dam are justified, and that negotiations with Sudan over the dam are continuing.

“We value development on the condition that it does not affect the interests of Egypt,” El-Sisi said.

“Our stance has not changed. My words were and still are: Respect for development in Ethiopia to improve conditions (for) its people, with the understanding that this matter (should) not affect the interests of Egypt.”

Ethiopia’s foreign ministry said in a statement that it expected talks to resume around the third week of April at the invitation of the president of the African Union.

The Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Cairo has not yet received an invitation from the African Union and stated that Cairo openly deals with the efforts of the African Union presidency.

Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday’s meeting failed “due to Egypt and Sudan’s rigid stance” and that Ethiopia “cannot enter into an agreement that would foreclose its current and future legitimate rights over the utilization of the Nile.”

Egyptian FM Shoukry said, “We will work with our partners, the international organizations, and highlight the associated risks, and we will call on the international community to assume its responsibility to maintain peace and security at regional and international levels.

“Egypt and Sudan have the right to take measures to defend their water rights,” he concluded.

However, Ethiopia says the gravity dam under construction since 2011 is vital for its economic progress and power generation, but Egypt fears its supply of water from the Nile which currently provides about 97 percent of the country’s irrigation and drinking water will be threatened, and Sudan has raised concerns about the dam’s safety and its effect on its own dams and water stations on the Nile.