PM Modi conferred with Egypt's highest state honour 'Order of the Nile' award
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Sunday held talks in Cairo and signed a pact to elevate the bilateral relationship to "strategic partnership". The Egyptian President also conferred his country’s highest civilian honour, the "Order of the Nile," personally on PM Modi, who is the first Indian to receive the award.
At a special ministry of external affairs briefing in Cairo, foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said the two leaders focused on strengthening ties between the two nations regarding political and security cooperation, as well as defence collaboration. Trade, renewable energy, information technology (IT) and people-to-people ties were also discussed.
The foreign secretary said, in all, four pacts were signed, with the three MoUs in the fields of agriculture, archaeology & antiquities and competition law.
While the formal agreement on elevating ties to a strategic partnership was inked by the two leaders on Sunday, the decision was taken six months ago, in January, during the Egyptian President's visit to India as the chief guest at the Republic Day parade. In January, the two leaders had decided to upgrade India-Egypt bilateral relations, covering political, security, defence, energy and economic areas.
On the proposal for consideration by Egypt of the possible allocation of a special area of land for the Indian industries in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCEZ), Mr Kwatra said that the chairman of Egypt’s Suez Canal had just returned from India after meeting business stakeholders to assess what the possible Indian investment would be in the SCEZ.
The foreign secretary added that the chairman had also been part of the meeting that the PM had on Saturday with the Egyptian PM and other top ministers in the Egyptian Cabinet.
On Sunday, Mr Modi visited the ancient Pyramids with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.
During the meeting, Mr Modi also invited Mr El-Sisi to visit India for the G-20 summit that will be held in New Delhi in September.
In a statement on the talks between Mr Modi and Mr El-Sisi, New Delhi said that the Prime Minister was received by the President of Egypt at Al-Ittihadiya Palace on Sunday. During the meeting, the two leaders discussed ways to further deepen the partnership between the two countries.
"They agreed that the newly established ‘India Unit’ in the Egyptian Cabinet, headed by the Egyptian Prime Minister, was a useful tool in steering bilateral collaborations." the statement said.
New Delhi added: "The Prime Minister and the Egyptian President also discussed further cooperation in the G-20, highlighting the issues of food and energy insecurity, climate change and the need for the Global South to have a concerted voice. The Prime Minister looked forward to welcoming the Egyptian President in New Delhi in September for the G-20 leaders summit."
The Prime Minister of Egypt and other senior Cabinet ministers were present at the meeting. From the Indian side, the external affairs minister, the national security advisor and other senior officials were present.
The PM also visited the historic 11th-century Al-Hakim Mosque on Sunday. The mosque was earlier renovated by members of the Bohra community.
Earlier on Saturday, the PM had met the Grand Mufti of Egypt Shawky Ibrahim Allam. The PM also met top Egyptian business leaders, intellectuals and yoga instructors who are playing an important role in the spread of Indian culture there. He also met about 300 members of the Indian community.
Mr Modi also visited the Heliopolis Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery in Cairo, where he paid homage to the memory of over 4,300 Indian soldiers who sacrificed their lives in Egypt and Aden during the First World War.
On Mr Modi’s interaction with Indian community members earlier on Saturday in Cairo, New Delhi said, "In his interaction with the Indian community, the Prime Minister lauded them for their contribution towards strengthening India-Egypt ties."
