India – Egypt Agree for Raising Bilateral Ties to “Strategic Partnership”
NEW DELHI, Jan 25: Seeking to re-kindle the non-aligned era ties between the two countries, India and Egypt on Wednesday agreed to elevate their bilateral ties to “Strategic Partnership” covering political, security, defence, energy and economic aspects.
Welcoming the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi who will be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade on Thursday, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi said abuse of cyber space by extremist forces was a “growing threat” and both sides agreed to intensify cooperation in this regard.
“India has invited Egypt as a special guest for the G-20 summit which shows our age-old relationship. We have decided that under the India-Egypt strategic partnership, we will create a long term structure of cooperation on political, security, economic, and scientific areas,” said Modi announcing that the scope for cooperation in Indo-Egypt relation especially in the fields of defence and security was “unlimited”.
In his remarks, President El Sisi pointed at relation between the two civilisations that date back to antiquity and said Egypt wishes to welcome more Indian tourists. The two teams signed five MoUs covering culture, cooperation on youth matters, cyber security, information and technology (IT) and public broadcasting. “I have requested Prime Minister Modi to create permanent channels to enhance digital connections between small and medium scale industries and that will help in improving life of common people. Defence cooperation was part of today’s discussion and our joint military exercise is an example of that cooperation,” said President El-Sisi. Prasar Bharati and National Media Authority of Egypt signed a MoU during the formal ceremony at the Hyderabad House.
El-Sisi invited Modi to visit Egypt and suggested greater air connectivity between New Delhi and Cairo.
El-Sisi had arrived in Delhi on Tuesday evening for a state visit that is being described as historic as he is the first Egyptian President to have been invited as the “Chief Guest” at the Republic Day parade. India and Egypt are founding partners of the non-aligned movement in world affairs and has defence ties that date back to the 1960s.
India had deputed military personnel to work on Egypt’s military aircraft project at Helwan, near the capital Cairo. Modi appreciated that a contingent of Egyptian military personnel will participate in the Republic Day parade in New Delhi on Thursday. “We are in agreement that terrorism is the biggest threat to humanity. Both countries also agree that strong steps are required to end cross-border terrorism and for that we have to convince the international community through joint efforts,” said Modi. President El-Sisi also stated that both sides have firmed up plans for cooperation in cyber security.
“I have expressed my gratitude to the Prime Minister for inviting Egypt to the G-20 summit and I have assured that Egypt will play a constructive role in the summit. We also discussed the issues before the developing economies in the context of global developments,” said El Sisi asking for greater stability in the world economy.
(Manas Dasgupta)
