The Sudanese government has asked the UN Security Council to encourage parties to negotiations on the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam to refrain from any unilateral actions that may affect regional and international peace and security.
In a letter I sent to the President of the Security Council, she called on the Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs to support Sudan's efforts to resume negotiations in good faith in order to reach a comprehensive agreement that satisfies all parties.
The message also included an explanation of Sudan's position on the Renaissance Dam negotiations and its initiative that led to the approval of the resumption of negotiations between Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia at the level of irrigation ministers.
The letter stressed the importance of establishing a firm base for cooperation between the three countries and securing their interests.
It also stressed Sudan's commitment to the rules of international law provided for in the United Nations Convention on the use of international watercourses for non-navigational purposes.
Among the most prominent of these rules, according to the message, is the fair and reasonable use of water resources, refraining from causing grave dangers to other countries and the peaceful settlement of disputes.
On the other hand, the Ethiopian opposition warned of what it described as concerted pressure to delay the construction of the Renaissance Dam and to deprive Ethiopia of its right to use its resources.
The Joint Council of Political Parties - a forum of 76 opposition parties - has unanimously supported the dam project to complete its construction. The council also stressed that any political pressure to delay the construction of the dam is unacceptable, accusing Egypt of using various mechanisms to deprive Ethiopia of its just right to use its natural resources, the council said.
And at the end of last February, Egypt signed, in initials, an agreement to fill and operate the dam, which was sponsored by the United States with the participation of the World Bank, considering that the agreement was fair, while Ethiopia rejected it and Sudan kept it.
Finally, Egypt submitted an explanatory note to the members of the Security Council regarding developments in the stalled negotiations, since mid-March.
Cairo fears the potential negative impact of the dam on the flow of its annual share of the Nile's water, which amounts to 55.5 billion cubic meters, while Sudan gets 18.5 billion.
For its part, Addis Ababa says it does not aim to harm Egypt's interests, and that the aim of building the dam is to generate electricity mainly.