Sushma Swaraj arrives in Egypt on first leg of two-nation tour

Cairo: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived in Cairo, on Sunday, for the first leg of a two-nation tour which is expected to see new vistas being opened in bilateral ties with particular focus on boosting trade.

Swaraj was received by Indian Ambassador to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya at the airport.

During her visit to Egyptian capital Cairo, she will call on President of Egypt Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, hold bilateral talks with her counterpart Sameh Hassan Shoukry and meet Nabil ElAraby, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, besides other leaders.

Swaraj, in her first visit to the country as External Affairs Minister, is also scheduled to deliver a public address at the prestigious Diplomatic Club in Cairo to be hosted by the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs.

"The Minister's visit to Cairo will provide an opportunity to review the entire gamut of our bilateral and multilateral relations and to exchange views with the Egyptian leadership covering whole range of issues of mutual interest," the External Affairs Ministry said.

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Egypt has traditionally been one of India's most important trading partners in the African continent. Trade between India and Egypt during the last financial year (April 2014 -- March 2015) has been recorded at USD 4.76 billion.

Most importantly, India is the sixth largest trading partner of Egypt -- the second largest export destination. India's imports from Egypt were worth USD 1.74 billion during 2014-15. There has been diversification in the export basket of Egyptian products to India.

After Egypt, Swaraj will visit Germany. During her visit to Berlin from August 25-27, Swaraj will hold meetings with German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier and a number of other leaders.

Both the countries are expected to review bilateral relationship with a particular focus on enhancing economic engagement.