BY YOHANES JEMANEH
Ethiopia is the leading nation in the eastern Africa region in putting maximum effort into installing peace through bolstering mutual relations and lending hands in various peacekeeping missions. As a result, it has peaceful relations with its neighbors. But this relationship can’t bear fruit only with one-sided effort. In this case, the bilateral cooperation with Sudan had been uneven for the past two years since the Sudanese Army occupied Ethiopian lands violating Ethiopia’s territorial integrity.
Despite all the contemptuous reactions from the Sudanese government to Ethiopia’s claim, the government of Ethiopia has been trying to entertain the case meticulously in a diplomatic approach given that the two peoples have an inseparable destination of mutual development.
It was with this intent that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) discussed the issue with his Sudanese counterpart as he met Abdel Fattah al-Burhan during the 39th Extraordinary Assembly of the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) Heads of State and Government that was held in Kenya on 5 July 2022.
Abiy and al-Burhan discussed matters of mutual concerns and regional affairs. After the meeting, Abiy tweeted that an agreement has been made to resolve differences and strengthen Ethiopia-Sudan relations through dialogue and peaceful resolution.
“We have both agreed that our two countries have plenty of collaborative elements to work on peacefully. Our common bonds surpass any divisions. We both made a commitment for dialogue and peaceful resolution to outstanding issues.”
Abiy further noted that, the people of Ethiopia and Sudan have many things in common and will solve border-related issues peacefully recognizing the benefit of the people of the two countries and their longstanding socio-cultural integration.
Thanks to the discussion between the two leaders, the bilateral relationship between the two nations is being reinstated relying on the agreements of the two leaders. On July 17, the Technical Committee of the Security and Defense Council of Sudan issued a statement regarding the border issues.
The statement said within the framework of the talks that were launched between the leadership of Sudan and Ethiopia regarding reaching urgent and permanent solutions to the problems that arise between the two countries in the border areas and in return for the goodwill measures shown by the Ethiopian side to prevent infiltration of armed elements into Sudanese territory,
The Technical Committee of the Security and Defense Council decided on the opening of Al-Galabat border crossing as of July 17, 2022 before movement between the two countries. The statement said the committee also decided on the need to intensify international border control and prevent movement of any armed elements between the two countries, with tight coordination between the two sides.
In addition, in a statement released after the meeting, the Sudanese army spokesman Brig. Gen Nabil Abdallah Ali said the Technical Committee of the Security and Defense Council decided to open the Gallabat crossing point starting from July 17.
According to Brig. Gen Nabil Abdallah Ali, Sudan is ready to work in cooperation with Ethiopia as per the decision of the committee to intensify the monitoring of international borders, and to prevent the movement of any armed elements between the two countries, with tight coordination between them.
He announced the reopening of the border crossing with Ethiopia citing confiding building measures by Addis Ababa. Brig. Gen Nabil Abdallah Ali said that, high level officials of the two countries are holding discussions to bring an immediate solution to the border dispute.
Brig. Gen Nabil Abdallah Ali pointed out that talks between the leadership of the two countries are underway to settle the border dispute. The decision was in return for the goodwill measures shown by the Ethiopian side to address the situation.
Sudan and Ethiopia are expected to consolidate strong diplomacy and interest to work together to make a difference for Ethiopia as Ethiopia is a peaceful, historic and religious nation that has many cultural bonds with the people of Sudan.
“As messengers of Prophet Mohammed who were sent to the country conveyed the message and said respect Ethiopians it is a peaceful country, the country’s peace and tranquility helps boost Horn peace,” Researcher and Historian Assistant Professor Adem Kamil said.
For him, Sudanese are very generous and likable people so their administration has to capitalize on the positive aspects that can cement the people-to-people ties and amicable association with Ethiopia.
Cognizant of the fact that Ethiopia’s peace is significant for the development of Sudan, the Sudanese Military Rule needs to work towards peace rather than supporting rivalry against Ethiopia and orchestrating futile attempts against Ethiopia’s grand dam, Adem noted.
Ethiopia and Sudan have long standing historical social, political, and economic interactions. The two countries need to settle their differences peacefully through negotiation and renew their relations for the benefit of the two people. Therefore, strengthening people-to-people ties and promoting mutual interests will play an important role in resolving the ongoing minor conflicts related to boundaries and other issues, he suggested.
Anyways, the Sudanese government has lately turned its eyes to peace talks with Ethiopia to deescalate the border tension which is one stride to the peace process between the two nations.
Many believe that the initiation of peaceful means of the Sudanese government is a reflection of the people’s interest. This late development of changing the stubborn mind of the Sudanese leaders for peace talks with Ethiopia is the result of the unwavering stance of the Sudan people to bolster its relationship with its Ethiopian brothers and sisters, believed political analyst Moussa Sheiko.
The people of Sudan compelled the Military rule to tend to solve its problems with Ethiopia solely via peaceful dialogue. The two people have time-tested relations so the political differences that have been seen between the politicians couldn’t affect the people-to-people relations.
However, the analyst perceives that the wrong perception from the Sudanese government side in interrelating the border issue with the negotiation on GERD. The occurrence of such perception indicates hidden third-party interferences in this case. “Nonetheless, this will not be effective,” he said.
It is to be recalled that Sudan and Egypt had been conducting a joint military training exercise in Khartoum. The so-called military exercise titled “Nile Protectors” was Egypt’s plan to agitate Nile downstream countries to stand against Ethiopia with regard to the construction of the GERD.
Egypt spares no effort to affect the construction of the dam so that it never hesitates to use the border tension between Ethiopia and Sudan as a means to put a hurdle on the progress of the dam. However, the late peace development between Ethiopia and Sudan turned the perpetration to be futile. Egypt has no valid evidence to accuse Ethiopia’s grand project of causing significant harm. However, it has been recruiting neighbors like Sudan to hold up its claim that the project will reduce water flow – a nonscientific accusation.
The dam rather helps to bring about regulated water flow and avert siltation to these downstream nations. Ethiopia also planned to export power at a cheap price. As a result, the dam should not be a bone of contention. It rather needs to be a cooperation project that the countries strive to achieve for common good. Thus, Egypt needs to refrain from its misconduct in exploiting every gap that affects Ethiopia’s development activities. All the downstream countries ought to urge Egypt to refrain from such misdeeds.
On the other hand, Sudan should strengthen its effort to install enduring peace with Ethiopia detaching itself from the toxic advice from Egypt. Therefore, the Sudanese army needs to leave the Ethiopian land it has occupied during the Tigray conflict – since opening the border is not enough to bring lasting peace. In relation to this, the international community ought to urge the Sudanese military government to evacuate its soldiers from the area and invest more in peace talks to build amicable ties with Ethiopia. It is only in this way the provisional government can enhance the longstanding relations between the two people and get neighborly economic and political benefits from Ethiopia.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 26 JULY 2022
