There were also concerns that the rising tensions could escalate into some kind of conflict.
“This is an pivot to (Ethiopian capital) Addis Ababa,” Hassan Khannenje, director of the Horn International Institute for Strategic Studies, told the BBC’s Focus on Africa program.
“I think it is an attempt to unite hatred to increase pressure on Addis Ababa.”
However, Somalia’s Information Minister Daoud Aweis denied this, saying the talks were only about cooperation between the three countries.
“We have no intention of inciting anything against Addis Ababa,” he told Focus on Africa.
“Addis Ababa is a neighbor with whom we have been working together for a long time, although later their leadership came up with a source of instability in the region. But we still support peace and believe that such meetings cannot take place.” “In Asmara, we have nothing to do with Ethiopia.”
A photo released by Eritrea after the meeting shows President Isaias Afewerki shaking hands with his counterparts Abdul Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia.
The statement said the three “agreed to strengthen Somali state institutions to confront various internal and external challenges and ensure that Somali federal forces combat all forms of terrorism.”
This was Sisi’s first visit to Asmara, and the Somali president has already visited three times this year.
Ethiopia has for years been a staunch supporter of the Mogadishu government’s fight against al-Shabaab, a militant group linked to al-Qaeda.
But Somalia is angry that Ethiopia signed a preliminary agreement earlier this year to lease part of its coastline with the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland. Somalia considers Somaliland part of its territory.
Meanwhile, Addis Ababa and Cairo have been at odds for over a decade over Ethiopia’s construction of a large hydroelectric dam on the Nile River. Egypt sees this as a possible threat to the amount of water flowing along the river on which it depends.
Last month, an Egyptian ship delivered a significant amount of military equipment to Somalia. This comes after two Egyptian military aircraft landed in the Somali capital last August with weapons and ammunition.
2018 had hoped to bring an end to the volatile relationship between Ethiopia and Eritrea following a bloody border war two decades ago.
It was then that Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed a ‘Declaration of Peace and Friendship’ with Eritrea.
This agreement earned him the Nobel Peace Prize the following year.
But relations between the Horn of Africa neighbors have soured again after two years of civil war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, which borders Eritrea.
Asmara has been an ally of the Ethiopian government in the conflict but has been lukewarm about the deal that ended the fighting in November 2022.
Relations were further soured last year by Abiy’s declaration that his country wanted to secure access to Red Sea ports.
