Sudan yesterday announced its commitment to removing border restrictions with Ethiopia through “Joint Technical Commissions,” local media has reported.
The move was said to have aimed at strengthening the relations between the two countries.
The two neighbours have been disputing over the Al-Fashqa area which is located at the common border between the two countries. Al-Fashqa, which is surrounded by water-based insulators, covers an area of about 251 square kilometres.
According to the Sudanese official news agency SUNA, the agreement was made during a meeting between the Sudanese Vice President, Hafiz Abdul Rahman, and the Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister, Dimik Mikkonen, which took place yesterday in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.
Mikkonen, who arrived in Sudan on Saturday, was also planned to attend another signing ceremony of a peace deal with the southern Sudanese state.
Read: Sudan and Ethiopia agree to prevent border infringements
“Sudan is committed to developing its relationship with Ethiopia and removing the border obstacles between the two countries, through joint technical committees,” SUNA quoted a Sudanese official as saying.
Last month, the Sudanese-Ethiopian borders witnessed violent clashes between local farmers from both sides, which left some civilians killed and wounded. The issue of the border boundary between the two countries has stemmed from the constant disputes between border tribes in agricultural and pastoral areas.
On his part, the Sudanese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mohammed Abdullah Idriss, told SUNA that the meeting discussed “ways of enhancing the bilateral cooperation between the two countries [Sudan and Ehtiopia] and achieving common interests.”
The two officials also discussed the regional and international coordination between Sudan and Ethiopia
Idriss added.
On Monday, the Sudanese foreign minister, Dardari Mohamed Ahmed, called for resolving the border issues with the “eastern neighbour Ethiopia.”
Sudan’s Joint Technical Committee for Border Demarcation (JTCB) reached a border agreement between the two countries in 2013, which has not been approved ever since.
![British Prime Minister Keir Starmer looks on, at Number 10 Downing Street, following the results of the election, in London, UK, July 5, 2024 [Kevin Coombs/Reuters]](https://i0.wp.com/www.horndiplomat.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-07-05T115520Z_52034812_RC2ZO8AP0G9J_RTRMADP_3_BRITAIN-ELECTION-1720202222.webp?resize=100%2C70&ssl=1 "New PM Starmer names first cabinet after landslide win")
