Cairo - MENA
Water ministers of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia will meet on Monday in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum to kick off win-win tripartite negotiations on Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam.
"Egypt will go to these talks with a new version for solving the crisis," an official at the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation told MENA.
"Negotiations are not easy, it takes time. We need many follow-up meetings...If we all have a sincere political will, we can overcome any obstacles," he added.
Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan formed a tripartite technical committee last year to study the possible effects of Ethiopia's dam.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has been a point of contention between Egypt and Ethiopia, as Egypt fears the dam will have damaging effects on its share of Nile water.
Previous agreements made in 1929 and 1959 which guaranteed Egypt’s share of Nile water were signed in Ethiopia’s absence.
Ethiopian officials insist the dam will not hamper Egypt's share of Nile water and have instead pointed to gains in electricity production offered by the project.