South Sudan and Sudan Thursday recommitted to implementing security cooperation agreements by enhancing the flow of security-related information, reopening border points, and enhancing bilateral trade between the two countries. 

South Sudan's Defense Minister Angelina Teny and her Sudanese counterpart Yassin Ibrahim, who head the Joint Political and Security Mechanism (JPSM) held a high-level security meeting in Juba on Wednesday and Thursday and signed the agreement. 

Last month, South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit and the Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok agreed to reestablish the Jebeleen- Renk, Meiram, Buram-Tumsah, and Kharsana-Panakuac border crossing points.

Jointly addressing the press after signing the agreement, Sudanese Minister Ibrahim announced that reopening of the borders will begin on 1st October 2021 at the Jebeleen town of Sudan's White Nile State.

"We are looking forward to establishing banks, trade, and finding solutions on the pensions matter,” Ibrahim said. "We would like to play a significant example in the region. This is through our partnerships and achieving the aspirations of our citizens by providing them with better living conditions."

South Sudanese Defense Minister Teny added that they have agreed on a matrix for reopening of borders, regular JPSM meetings, and other security issues. 

“We will start with the ready areas. Some areas are ready, we have even done the inauguration during our last visit to Sudan in the last meeting of the JPSM in October 2020," she pointed out. 

She added that they also discussed the security situation in the disputed Abyei region as the two countries continue discussing its fate. 

“We also deliberated on a report presented by UNISFA and JBVMM on the status of the situation within the areas of the buffer zone, and the status of the implementation of the previous recommendations and some of the concerns that were raised by UNISFA and the JBVMM,” Teny said.

Early this week, the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) expressed grave concern over hostilities in parts of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State forcing UNISFA to pull out and called on the two countries to urgently resolve the matter. 

The JPSM is responsible for the implementation of the nine cooperation agreements signed between the two counties in September 2012.