Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi held talks with South Sudan’s presidential advisor on security affairs Tut Gatluak in Cairo on Thursday. Presidential spokesman, Bassam Rady, said Gatluak handed Sisi a letter from his South Sudanese counterpart, Salva Kiir, that reviewed the latest political developments and bilateral ties, as well as the current stance on the peace process in South Sudan. The meeting was attended by Abbas Kamel, Egypt’s head of General Intelligence, Deng Alor Kuol, South Sudan’s Minister of East African Affairs, Gabriel Changson Chang, South Sudan’s Minister of Higher Education, and Stephen Kowal, South Sudan’s Minister of Peacebuilding. Talks have touched on various issues of common interest, including the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam crisis. The conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia has been ongoing for 11 years due to Addis Ababa’s intransigence to build the mega-dam without reaching a legally binding agreement with the two downstream countries on the rules of filling and operating the dam. In July, Cairo protested to the United Nations Security Council against Addis Ababa’s plans to unilaterally fill the GERD’s reservoir for a third year without reaching an agreement with Cairo and Khartoum. During the meeting, Sisi affirmed Egypt’s keenness to maintain security and stability in South Sudan, as a “decisive factor and a fundamental pillar that ensures the achievement and sustainability of success and opens up prospects for cooperation to achieve development.” The Egyptian President said that Cairo is determined to bolster bilateral cooperation and transfer its experience in drawing up an integrated development strategy for South Sudan, especially in urban planning, infrastructure, roads, and transportation sectors. He added that his country is willing to develop the existing bilateral cooperation in the fields of training human cadres, education, agriculture, irrigation, water stations, and others. Gatluak, for his part, said his country looks forward to benefiting from Egypt’s expertise in the field of construction to meet the ambitions of the South Sudanese people for a better future. He also praised the continuous development in the course of relations between the two brotherly countries in various fields.