The last round of the tripartite meetings called by the US administration between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam "GERD" kicked off in Washington on Tuesday , the Egyptian foreign ministry  said.  

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry headed for Washington on Sunday to take part in the two-day talks.

The meetings, sponsored by the US and the World Bank, aim to reach an agreement on rules regulating the filling and operation of the Ethiopian dam.

The talks were supposed to be concluded mid this month but the three sides failed to reach an agreement and decided to defer them to Tuesday.

The three Nile basin countries remained deadlocked over the way the dam will be filled with water during droughts.

Ethiopia hopes that the $4.8 billion GERD project on the Blue Nile, which has been under construction since 2011, will allow it to become Africa’s largest power exporter.

Egypt, however, fears that the Ethiopian dam, which is 70 percent complete and set to be fully operational by 2022, will diminish its share of Nile water, which comprises 85 percent of the country’s water resources.