CAIRO, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi arrived in Djibouti on Thursday to hold talks with his Djiboutian counterpart Ismail Omar Guelleh on regional issues and bilateral ties, said the Egyptian presidency.

It is the first visit ever by an Egyptian president to the Horn of Africa country.

The two leaders discussed the latest developments of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) built on the Nile River, said Egyptian presidential spokesman Bassam Rady in a statement.

Sisi and Guelleh agreed on "the importance of reaching a fair and balanced legal agreement on filling and operating the GERD in a way that achieves the interests of the three states, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, and preserves regional stability," Rady added.

The Djiboutian president praised Egypt's role in reaching the recent truce between Gaza-ruling Hamas movement and Israel following 11 days of clashes, which left at least 243 Palestinians and 12 Israelis dead.

Both leaders agreed on the necessity of reviving the path of political settlement to reach a just, comprehensive and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in accordance with international references.

The talks also addressed ways of boosting bilateral relations between Cairo and Djibouti.

Guelleh highlighted the prospect for cooperation between the two countries in various fields, expressing his country's aspiration to increase the activity of the Egyptian private sector in Djibouti.

For his part, Sisi voiced Egypt's earnest desire to raise the level of bilateral relations between the two countries in all fields to the level of "strategic partnership," according to the Egyptian presidency. Enditem

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