Sudanese FM arrives in Cairo for talks on Ethiopia's Renaissance Dam

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Ahmed Karti arrived here on Saturday to join his Egyptian and Ethiopian counterparts for trilateral talks on the controversial topic of the Grand Renaissance Dam, according to state-run MENA news agency.

The talks will focus on Ethiopia's Renaissance Dam and means of boosting cooperation among the three Nile countries.

Tedros Adhanom, the Ethiopian foreign minister, arrived here Friday night.

The three countries have signed a declaration of principles on the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam during their meeting in Khartoum in March.

However, since then, an intense debate has been going on regarding the modalities and core principles in the declaration.

Egypt fears that the dam would diminish its share of the river waters. However, Ethiopia said the project will have no effect on Sudan and Egypt downstream.

The dam extends on an area of 1,800 square km and is scheduled to be completed in a period of three years at a cost of about 4.7 billion U.S. dollars. So far, around 30 percent of the dam project has been finalized.