Egypt's Sisi, India's Modi sign declaration to elevate relations to strategic partnership level

CAIRO – 25 June 2023: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi received Sunday at Al Itihadiyah Presidential Palace Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is on a two-day visit to Egypt that started Saturday.

 

President Sisi decorated Prime Minister Modi with the "Order of the Nile," which is the highest civilian award in Egypt. It is noted that the visit is the first by an Indian chief of state in nearly two decades, and marks 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The two leaders signed a joint declaration to elevate relations to the level of strategic partnership. In that context, they conferred over boosting the exchange of strategic goods, and trade exchange in general, as well as enlarging Indian investments in Egypt.

Similarly, Sisi and Modi discussed reinforcing cooperation in the sectors of ICT, pharmaceuticals, vaccines, tertiary education, renewable energy, green hydrogen, as well as tourism and culture by increasing the number of direct flights between Cairo and New Delhi.

In a related context, the Indian prime minister invited President Sisi to attend the G20 Summit to be hosted in New Delhi in September 2023. The Egyptian chief of state expressed confidence that the Indian chairmanship of the summit would contribute to the containment of the fallout that hit global economy.

In that framework, the president stipulated Egypt's readiness to cooperate with India to push talks at the summit in the constructive direction, which, in turn, would facilitate adopting ideal ways to deal with the crises of energy, climate change, and food as well as the shortage in funding to developing countries.

Sisi and Modi equally exchanged views on the developments of a number of regional and international affairs of joint interest, as the meeting built upon the outcomes of the former's state visit to India in January during the celebrations of Republic Day.

The Indian prime minister arrived in Cairo on Saturday and co-chaired with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli a roundtable discussion. The talks highlighted that Indian investments in Egypt had amounted to $3.5 billion, while trade exchange had hit $7 billion. Yet, there is potential to raise the amount to $12 billion over the coming five years.