Prime Minister at the invitation of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Narendra Modi Has left for a two-day state visit to Egypt on 24-25 June. This visit is very important, let us tell that this visit is the first official bilateral visit of any Indian Prime Minister to Egypt since 1997.
Recently, on the occasion of the 74th Republic Day, the President of Egypt, Abdel Fateh al-Sisi, was invited to India as the chief guest. This was the first time that this honor was given to an Egyptian President.
Abdel Fateh al-Sisi’s visit to India has further strengthened the foundation of friendship between the two countries. At the beginning of the visit, the PM will hold strategic talks with a special gathering of high-level ministers. This strategic dialogue will be followed by a meeting with the Indian community living in Egypt.
After this, PM Modi will also visit the 1000-year-old famous Al Hakim Mosque located in the capital Cairo. Where PM will meet the Dawoodi Bohra community.
According to an ANI report, the Al Hakeem Masjid is a very important cultural site for the Dawoodi Bohra community. The country’s fourth oldest historic mosque was recently renovated by the Egyptian government with the support of the Bohra community.
Significantly, Modi has had warm relations with the Indian Dawoodi Bohra community for years.
The official program in the President’s Office is an important part of PM Modi’s visit to Egypt. Here PM Modi will be involved in bilateral talks with President al-Sisi.
Several Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) are expected to be signed between the two countries during the talks, which will strengthen the foundation of cooperation in different domains.
In this article, we will try to understand what will be the main agenda of the Prime Minister’s visit, and how this visit has revived relations with Egypt in the last nine years under the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government.
What to expect from PM Modi’s visit to Egypt
PM Modi will hold bilateral talks with President Sisi in Cairo, interact with senior leaders of the Egyptian government and interact with prominent Egyptian personalities besides meeting the Indian diaspora.
The announcement of the Prime Minister’s visit comes soon after Egypt formally applied for membership of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). Egypt is taking a lot of interest in the plan to abandon the US dollar in trade with the BRICS countries.
This is believed to be a step that will promote economic cooperation between the countries.
The way Egypt is expressing its desire to reduce dependence on the US dollar and promote alternative currencies in international trade including its own currency. It is clear that Egypt wants to establish strong relations with emerging economies, in such a situation PM Modi’s visit is important.
During the visit, discussions will take place on defense cooperation, education and Egypt’s application to join BRICS. According to a report by Financial Express, Egypt is expected to develop rapidly. Egypt has abundant natural resources and strategic control over the Suez Canal.
On the other hand, increased trade and investment between Egypt and BRICS countries can contribute to economic growth. According to the Financial Express, Egypt’s application to join BRICS will also affect the perceptions of other Middle Eastern and African countries towards the BRICS group.
How deep was the friendship between India and Egypt during PM Modi’s tenure
PM Modi has worked towards building strong ties with Egypt. Egypt has been invited as a special guest at the G20 Summit during the presidency of India.
Earlier, on the occasion of 74th Republic Day, Egyptian President Abdel Fateh al-Sisi was invited as the chief guest.
According to India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, ‘the partnership between the two countries has broadly four elements: political – defense and security; economic affiliation; scientific and educational cooperation; And culturally the mutual association of the people of both the countries.
In the last meeting, both the countries also agreed that concrete action is necessary to end cross-border terrorism. For this, both the countries had agreed to alert the international community.
How important is the friendship between the two countries from the point of view of trade?
Since taking office in June 2014, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has visited India three times so far. He is likely to visit India once again in September for the G-20 summit.
Ahead of Al Sisi’s January visit, former Indian ambassador Navdeep Suri told DD India, “The relations between the two countries have not lived up to their potential in the recent past. India has taken charge of improving the relations between the two countries. India is trying to give ‘new momentum’ to relations with Egypt. Egypt is very important geopolitically because it is spread over Asia and Africa”.
When Egyptian President Al-Sisi came to India on the occasion of the Republic Day of 2023, it was decided that in the coming five years, both the countries would increase the trade from the current $7 billion to $12 billion.
The armies of both the countries also conducted joint military exercise for the first time in January this year. Egypt had shown interest in buying Tejas fighter aircraft, radar, military helicopters and Akash missile systems from India.
India has been a country for decades which has been buying weapons from other countries. Now that India is making equipment and weapons related to the defense sector and selling weapons to 42 countries, India also wants to see Egypt among these buyers.
From defense to education what Egypt wants from India
Relations between India and Egypt have strengthened under the leadership of PM Modi. Last year, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh visited Cairo.
Both the countries are exploring opportunities in renewable energy, trade and investment, education, tourism and connectivity and have agreed to promote free-thinking in a polarized world. Egypt also wants to open an Indian Institute of Higher Education like IIT here.
In a BBC report, Professor Pushpa Adhikari, an expert in international affairs at Nepal’s Tribhuvan University, said, ‘The condition of education in Egypt is very bad. He wants help from India. Egypt is definitely a strong military force in North Africa and West Asia, but the kind of development that is happening in Israel, Egypt is nowhere near that. That’s why Egypt needs military help too. Egypt wants a lot from India in the defense sector
According to a news agency Reuters, Egyptian Minister of Supplies Ali Moseley has said that talks are still going on between India and Egypt to do business in currency other than dollar.
According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, about 50 Indian companies have invested in Egypt. Along with chemical, energy, textile industry, this investment in the field of agri business is up to about 3.15 billion dollars.
how old is the friendship between egypt and india
- The history of contact between India and Egypt, the two oldest civilizations of the world, is very old. Ashoka’s inscriptions mention his relations with Egypt under Ptolemy-II.
- On August 18, 1947, the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Egypt at the consular level was jointly announced.
- In the year 1955, India and Egypt signed a friendship treaty. In 1961, India and Egypt established the Non-Aligned Movement along with Yugoslavia, Indonesia and Ghana.
A look at the visit of the Prime Ministers of India to Egypt
There have been four visits by the Prime Minister from India to Egypt since the 1980s. Rajiv Gandhi went to Egypt in 1985. PV Narasimha Rao visited Egypt in 1955, IK Gujral in 1997 and Dr. Manmohan Singh in 2009 for the Non-Aligned Summit.
Let us tell you that in the 50s and 60s, the relationship between Prime Minister Nehru and President Gamal Abdel Nasser was very deep.
Giving an example of this, Egyptian Ambassador to India Wael Mohamed Awad Hamed said, “Prime Minister Modi shares personal relationship, understanding and common agenda with President Al Sisi. I think the friendship of both (PM Modi and Al Sisi) will go beyond the 1950s and 1960s in the times to come.
Egypt’s relationship with Pakistan
Egypt is an Islamic country, Egypt’s relations with India’s neighboring country Pakistan are not good. At the end of the year 2022, there was a conference of Islamic countries. In that, Pakistan had brought a resolution against India. It could not pass due to strong objection from Egypt. In this way Egypt is making better relations towards India.
In 2022, after the remarks of BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma about Prophet Mohammad, all Islamic expressed displeasure against India, but Egypt did not make any comment during this period.
There was also a proposal in Pakistan OIC regarding this issue but Al-Sisi did not support it. This proposal could not pass.
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