South Sudan looking to join NBI framework agreement, says ambassador

March 28, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – South Sudan called on Egypt and Sudan to drop its opposition to the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) 2010 agreement and join it.

At a press conference in Cairo, the South Sudan ambassador to Egypt Anthony Kon said that his country has no obligation to join or recognize past Nile water agreements such as the 1959 one between Egypt and Sudan since it was not an independent nation at the time.

Kon revealed that his country wants to join the NBI agreement and urged Nile Basin countries to resolve their differences through dialogue saying that Khartoum and Cairo should reconsider their stances.

Upstream countries have tabled a framework agreement in 2010 which would strip Egypt of its veto right over all upstream projects including irrigation and hydropower. This was signed by six nations so far. Sudan has stood firmly in opposition for amending the 1929 and 1959 Nile water treaties.

South Sudan became an independent state in July 2011 after the Southerners voted overwhelmingly in favor of seceding from the Arab-Muslim north. Cairo was concerned that this would impact its share of the Nile waters particularly if the South decided to join the NBI.

(ST)