Foreign Minister holds talks with Senegalese President

– Senegalese President Macky Sall received at his residence in Dakar Saturday visiting Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Mariam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi, within the framework of the African tour that the minister is currently undertaking.

At the outset of the meeting, the Minister conveyed to the Senegalese President greetings of President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Gen. Abdul-Fattah Al-Burhan and the Prime Minister, Dr. Abdallah Hamdouk, and expressed her happiness over the visit.

During the meeting, the Minister affirmed the deep-rooted relations linking the two countries, reviewing the gains from the revolutionary change that took place in Sudan, the priorities of the transitional government, current developments in Sudan, and its visionary openness towards the world.

She stressed the need to boost further the relations of cooperation between the two countries, calling for entering into investment partnerships between the two countries.

The minister explained the current situation of the Renaissance Dam issue and Sudan’s stance towards the issue, its keenness on African solutions to African issues, and Sudan’s desire for the Senegalese President to make efforts to reach a peaceful solution with the approaching second filling of the dam that was declared by Ethiopia, stressing that Sudan has desire to reach a binding legal agreement on filling and operating the Renaissance Dam in a manner that fulfills the interests of the three parties and preserves their rights, under the leadership of the African Union and the international partners guaranteeing the agreement.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the border between Sudan and Ethiopia is one of the clearest borders and is protected by recognized agreements, and that Sudan seeks to convince the Ethiopian side to respect the treaties, agreements and international law, and that the Sudanese army extends its sovereignty over its territories.

For his part, the Senegalese President welcomed the Minister, and affirmed that Senegal has a good experience in managing transnational rivers and that he believes in mutual benefits and cooperation between states and not monopoly of waters, referring to the successful 40-year-long experience of his country of establishing Senegal River Basin Organization.

President Sall pointed out that he would raise the matter at the meeting of the African Union (AU) Bureau, and he would communicate with the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the President of the African Union, to reach a solution satisfactory to all parties.

The Senegalese President expressed his appreciation for the deep-rooted relations between the two countries, noting that the Sudanese Expresso Telecom Company is an example of the success of Sudanese investments in Senegal, pledging support for mutual investments.