A new agreement signed by the Sudanese and Egyptian armies .. What is the relationship of military cooperation between Khartoum and Cairo with Ethiopia and the Renaissance Dam?

The active military movement between Sudan and Egypt since last November has been feeding the theater of operations between Sudan and Ethiopia due to its coincidence with the border crisis between the two countries over the territories of the Sudanese border region of Fashaqa, and Khartoum's positions that were critical of Addis Ababa's approach in the Renaissance Dam negotiations.

In early November, the Ethiopian Federal Army launched a war against the Tigray region, which borders Sudan, which took advantage of Ethiopia's preoccupation, to regain its lands in the Fashaqa area that had been exploited by Ethiopian militias and farmers for about 27 years.

Days later, the negotiating delegation of Sudan withdrew from the talks on the Renaissance Dam, and the position of Khartoum, which had been strongly supportive of the Renaissance Dam, turned into a rejection of Ethiopia's intention to fill the dam and operate it unilaterally.

Meanwhile, a high-ranking delegation from the Egyptian army led by the chief of staff, commanders of the air force, the Thunderbolt and parachutes, which are the most important branches of the Egyptian army, was visiting Sudan for the first time in the history of military cooperation between the two countries.

This was followed by air maneuvers by the Sudanese and Egyptian armies for the first time in their history at Meroe air base in northern Sudan under the name of "Nile Eagles 1".

The signing ceremony of an agreement between the Sudanese and Egyptian armies in Khartoum (Sudanese Armed Forces Facebook account)

Army and border

After 3 months of all this hectic military activity, the Sudanese-Egyptian armies signed, on Tuesday, an agreement for military cooperation in the field of training and border security at the end of the seventh round of talks between the two armies.

The army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Muhammad Othman Al-Hussein, signed for Sudan, and on the Egyptian side, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Muhammad Farid, who arrived Monday in Khartoum at the head of a high-ranking military delegation.

The security and strategic expert, Lieutenant General Hanafi Abdullah - told Al-Jazeera Net - that there are agreements between Khartoum and Cairo, but their details are active, similar to the meetings that were held between the Sudanese and Egyptian armies the past two days in Khartoum.

On the focus of the recent agreement on securing the borders, Hanafi asserts that the borders are one of the duties of the army, and that the military space always carries out the tasks of demarcating the borders because it includes specialists in topography.

In the context, he notes that the agreement included aspects of military training and the exchange of experiences.

The Chiefs of Staff of the Sudanese and Egyptian armies during a previous meeting in Cairo (communication sites)

Movements Forces

According to an officer in the Sudanese army who is concerned with absorbing the forces of the armed movements that have signed the Juba Peace Agreement, the Egyptian army will cooperate with the Sudanese army in training and absorbing the movement’s forces as part of the security arrangements.

Thousands of soldiers and officers of the armed movements arrived in Khartoum to implement security arrangements stipulated in the peace agreement signed in Juba on October 3, 2020.

General Hanafi Abdullah notes that the sea, land and air maneuvers between the Sudanese and Egyptian armies are continuing, whether inside Sudan, like the maneuvers Meroe 3 months ago, or those that brought the two armies together in Saudi Arabia.

And on whether the growing relations between the Sudanese and Egyptian armies could threaten Ethiopia, Hanafi says that this is unlikely despite coinciding with the border tension between Sudan and Ethiopia, and with the stalled negotiations on the Renaissance Dam.

However, the security expert points out that "relations between Sudan and Egypt are required to proceed in the direction of strengthening the joint defense agreement, and it is a message for the other party to understand that Sudan is not alone, although it is not in a war with Ethiopia, so what is happening in misery is an internal affair."

Al-Sisi visits Khartoum

Political analyst Ayoub Mohamed Abbas, head of the Sudan Youth Rally, agrees with Hanafi, saying that within the framework of joint military cooperation between Sudan and Egypt, borders can be preserved in shame.

Abbas says - to Al Jazeera Net - that in light of a joint defense agreement between the two countries, this strengthens and qualifies the Sudanese forces to play their role in preserving the borders of Sudan anywhere.

He describes the signing of the military agreement between Sudan and Egypt as a step in the right direction, which comes within the framework of Sudan's balanced relations in order to achieve its interests and benefits while adhering to the principle of positive neutrality.

What strengthens this cooperation in light of the tension with Ethiopia is the announcement by the Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maryam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi, on Tuesday, that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi will visit Khartoum next Saturday.

Maryam Al-Mahdi met Al-Sisi in Cairo, and discussed with him the border tension between Sudan and Ethiopia and the stalled negotiations on the Renaissance Dam, and the Egyptian President conveyed to the Sudanese Foreign Minister Egypt's support for Sudan in everything that enhances its security.

Language allusions

It is certain that the signals made by the leaders of the Sudanese and Egyptian armies will be picked up by the Ethiopian side, especially since Addis Ababa recently accusations of a third party pushing the military in Sudan to go to war with Ethiopia.

The Sudanese army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Muhammad Othman Al-Hussein, said that the goal of the military talks is "to achieve joint national security for the two countries, by building capable armed forces in them."

For his part, the Egyptian army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Mohamed Farid, affirmed that his country "is ready to meet the needs of the Sudanese army in all fields; from training, arming and securing common borders."

He added that "the multiplicity and severity of threats surrounding national security and common interests require integration between brothers."