India and Egypt are two of the most ancient civilisations in the world. Both countries have maintained close historical ties over the centuries. As newly independent countries, the two states worked closely together to establish the Non-Aligned Movement, which inspired many developing countries in Asia and Africa.
In recent years, there has been rapid and multi-faceted growth in our bilateral ties. India was delighted to receive President Abdel Fattah El Sisi as chief guest for our Republic Day celebrations in January 2023. We are very happy that Prime Minister of India Mr Narendra Modi will pay a two-day visit to Egypt today.
The visit is a culmination of a series of high-level engagements, which began with the visit of Indian Defence Minister Mr. Rajnath Singh in September 2022, followed by the visits of External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar in October 2022 and Minister of Environment Mr Bhupender Yadav in November 2022 for COP27.
From Egypt, there have been several ministerial visits to India, including Minister of Communications and IT Amr Talaat in January 2023, Finance Minister Mohamed Maeet in February 2023, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in March 2023 and most recently, Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala el-Saeed in June 2023. At present, the Chairman of Suez Canal Economic Zone Mr Waleed Gamal Eddin is visiting India to encourage Indian companies to invest in Egypt.
This is the first visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Egypt and will provide further momentum to our partnership with Egypt. Prime Minister Modi’s reciprocal visit to Egypt signifies the importance and priority we attach to our valued relationship with the country. This year is special in India-Egypt relations, as we celebrate 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. We have also invited Egypt as a ‘guest country’ during our G20 Presidency this year. Our relations reached a new height after the visit of President Sisi to India earlier this year, when our leaders decided to elevate the relations to a ‘strategic partnership’.
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