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Written by Ayushi Agarwal
New Delhi [India]January 20 (ANI): India and Egypt are expected to sign around six Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) in areas such as agriculture and digital during Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s visit to India.
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The President of Egypt will be the main guest of honor at the Republic Day celebrations. A 180-strong military contingent from Egypt will join the celebrations.
Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi on January 24 and will be welcomed by Foreign Minister Rajkumar Ranjan Singh.
The next day, January 25, the Egyptian president will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the two leaders will issue press statements.
The visiting president will also meet Vice President Jagdeep Dankar and attend a banquet hosted by President Dupardi Murmu.
Earlier in the day, he will receive a grand welcome at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The Egyptian president is also expected to interact with the Indian business community during his visit.
The stamp commemorating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Egypt will be issued during the visit of the Egyptian President to China.
This will be the first time that the President of Egypt will be the guest of honor on India’s Republic Day. Sisi will be the fifth West Asian leader to be the guest of honor on Republic Day. This will be Sisi’s third visit to India.
There have been personal interactions between the Egyptian leader and Prime Minister Modi.
The prime minister visited Cairo in August 2015, while Sisi was in India for the India-Africa Forum in October 2015 and a bilateral state visit in September 2016.
The two leaders also spoke on the phone in 2020. In addition to this, Egypt has also been invited as the country of honor at the G20 summit to be held in India later this year.
The two sides also had several ministerial-level exchanges, including the visit of India’s defense and foreign ministers to Egypt last year.
In terms of defense cooperation, the military cooperation between the two countries has a strong momentum. In terms of exercises, the Indian Air Force or Indian Air Force participated in the first joint exercise in Egypt.
It is worth noting that the first joint exercise between the Indian Army Special Forces and the Egyptian Army, called Hurricane-I, is considered important. The exercise, which will boost defense cooperation between the two countries, is currently being held in Jodhpur.
The issue of deepening defense cooperation is expected to be discussed during the Egyptian leader’s visit.
Egypt has also expressed interest in purchasing the Tejas light fighter, and HAL officials are holding more discussions with the Egyptian side.
As far as the current economic situation is concerned, like most of the world, Arab countries have been hit hard by the new crown epidemic and are struggling with economic crisis. This is also an area that is likely to be discussed during the visit.
The Arab countries are counting on the recovery of tourism flows and have proposed some economic liberalization policies. Egypt is also eyeing investments by Indian companies to create jobs.
The two countries are also expected to discuss issues related to wheat supplies. India backed Egypt and exempted as much as 61,000 tonnes of wheat in three tranches last May despite the government’s temporary export ban.
In addition to the importance of its geostrategic location, especially the Suez Canal, through which 12% of world trade passes, Egypt is also one of the most populous countries in the Arab world, making it an important player in Arab world politics.
From a business perspective, Egypt is a key market for India as it is the gateway to Europe and Africa. Talking about the bilateral trade volume between the two countries hitting a record high of US$7.2 billion from 2021 to 2022, the two countries hope that the trade volume will increase to about US$12 billion in the next five years.
On security and counter-terrorism cooperation, there is a joint working group between India and Egypt, and the next meeting of the joint committee is scheduled for next month following the visit of the Egyptian president.
It is worth noting that Egypt has never supported Pakistan in forums such as the Organization of the Islamic Conference or the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Islamabad has often raised the Kashmir issue in the group.
Last year, India invited the leaders of the five Central Asian countries to attend the India-Central Asia Summit in Delhi as the guest of honor at the Republic Day celebrations. However, the visit was canceled due to an increase in COVID-19 cases. (Arnie)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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