New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi about the ongoing crisis in West Asia, including the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, hours after India abstained from a Jordan-backed resolution calling for a truce.
During the talks, according to Egyptian media reports, the Egyptian President raised caution over the dangerous humanitarian and security repercussions of an Israeli ground assault on the Gaza Strip.
Following the terror attacks on Israel carried out by Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, Israel has carried out airstrikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, with the spectre of a looming ground invasion as well.
There has been global concern over the rising civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip in the past several days.
Egyptian media reports said "Mr El Sisi received a phone call from Mr Modi to exchange views on the latest developments of the Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip and the gravity of continued escalation, especially on civilians' lives and regional security."
The reports quoted Presidential spokesman Ahmed Fahmi as saying that El Sisi underlined that Egypt will continue coordinating regional and international efforts to press for a ceasefire.
According to Egyptian media reports, El Sisi "warned of the dangerous humanitarian and security repercussions of the Israeli ground assault on the Gaza Strip, stressing the importance of unified international efforts to find an immediate solution at the diplomatic level, including ensuring an urgent humanitarian truce to protect civilians and allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip without any obstacles in accordance with the United Nations General Assembly resolution."
The two leaders "lauded the outstanding level of relations and the strategic partnership binding their countries, stressing interest in boosting cooperation even further", the reports further said.
