WORLD NEWS | PM Modi arrives in Egypt for two-day state visit

CAIRO, June 24 (PTI) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Saturday for a two-day state visit during which he will meet with Egyptian leaders including President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi The leaders held talks, and the two countries sought to strengthen strategic cooperation and partnership.

Modi is visiting Egypt at the invitation of Egyptian President Sisi.

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Modi was greeted at the airport with warm embraces by Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly.

He was greeted with great ceremony and a guard of honor upon his arrival.

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This is the first bilateral visit to Egypt by an Indian Prime Minister in 26 years.

Modi will meet Egyptian President Sisi on Sunday.

The prime minister will participate in a roundtable discussion of the Indian ministry of the Egyptian cabinet headed by Prime Minister Madbouly.

Modi will call on the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Dr. Ibrahim Abdul Karim Alam, followed by discussions with prominent Egyptian intellectuals.

On Sunday, Modi will visit the 11th-century Al-Hakim Mosque, which was renovated with the help of the Dawoodi Bohra community.

The Bohra community in India actually originated from the Fatimid dynasty, who renovated their mosques starting in the 1970s.

He will visit the Heliopolis War Cemetery to pay tribute to the Indian troops who gave their lives heroically for Egypt during the First World War.

The monument was built by the Commonwealth, although it is dedicated to the 3,799 Indian soldiers who lost their lives in the World War I conflict in Egypt.

Within six months of President Sisi’s visit to India as the main guest of this year’s Republic Day celebrations, the prime minister had a “very rapid exchange of visits” to Egypt.

Sisi is also scheduled to travel to India in September to attend the G20 summit, where Egypt was invited as a special guest.

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