President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has said that Egypt will take all necessary measures to protect its national interests and water security in light of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) that Ethiopia has built and inaugurated on the Nile River.

The president said that his country will “not sit idly by” over the “irresponsible” approach that Ethiopia is taking in managing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

In a video message to attendees of the 8th Water Week in his capital Cairo, al-Sisi said Egypt's reliance on diplomacy and international institutions, "especially the United Nations," should not be seen as a weakness.

Although Egypt has strongly opposed the Grand Renaissance Dam, saying it will reduce the amount of water it receives from the Nile River, the president, in a speech on Sunday, blamed the Ethiopian dam for the flooding that has occurred in Sudan in recent weeks.

"Ethiopia is mismanaging the dam, resulting in damage in the two downstream countries in recent days due to uneven water flow," he said.

In his speech, the president said that what happened a few days after the dam's inauguration "is proof that our demand for a legally binding agreement on the dam's operation is correct."