Sudan Egypt Relations
Egypt–Sudan relations are bilateral relations between Sudan and Egypt.
Sudan and Egypt have enjoyed intimate and complex historical ties, centred on historical commonalities in antiquity when Nubian Kingdoms in Sudan controlled Egypt and vice versa, cultural ties and Egypt’s quest for controlling the Nile’s waters. Prior to Sudanese independence in 1956, the two countries were united since the early 19th century through Muhammad Ali Dynasty invasion and occupation of Sudan under British rule.
Sudan showed great solidarity with Egypt in its Camp David peace initiatives with Israel in the late 1970s. In 2008, Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif urged the two countries to focus on two specific projects: the Gezira Scheme which aims to cultivate some two million acres (8,000 km²) of land in Sudan, and a joint project to improve food security in agricultural and meat production. One subject of disagreement is the Hala’ib Triangle: Sudan claims the area, although the Egyptian has militarily occupied it since 1995. Another disagreement is over dams in Ethiopia, specifically the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam which Sudan views as legitimate and of regional benefit whereas Egypt views as a threat to its water security.
Egypt’s policy on Sudan is that it is in favor of a united Sudan. As such Egypt was not directly involved in the Sudan Peace Process that was hosted in Kenya under the auspices of IGAD and that gave the peoples of South Sudan the right to secede and form an independent state in 2011 after the long and brutal Sudanese civil war that cumulatively lasted more than 40 years and claimed over 2 million lives.