INDIA AND EGYPT -‘STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP’

sree nivas January 27, 2023 Indian policy Leave a comment 202 Views

India and Egypt agreed on Wednesday to elevate their bilateral ties to a ‘strategic partnership’ that covers political, security, defence, energy and economic linkages.
Welcoming Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the abuse of cyberspace by extremist forces was a “growing threat”, and that both sides agreed to intensify cooperation in this regard.
The two sides also discussed “platforms and equipment” to enhance defence partnership.
“India has invited Egypt as a special guest for the G-20 summit, which shows our special friendship. We have decided that under the India-Egypt strategic partnership, we will create a long-term structure of cooperation on political, security, economic and scientific areas,” he said.
He added that the scope for cooperation in Indo-Egypt relations, especially in the fields of defence and security, was “unlimited”.
Modi argued that “despite global changes”, the India-Egypt relation had stayed on track and defence partnership between the two countries would help stabilise the region around the Arabian Sea.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who visited Cairo in October 2022, called on the visiting Egyptian leader and said the exchange “adds a new vigour” to the bilateral friendship.
In his remarks, President El Sisi said the relations between the two civilisations date back to antiquity, and said that Egypt wishes to welcome more Indian tourists.
The two teams signed five memorandums of understanding (MoU) covering culture, cooperation on youth matters, cybersecurity, information and technology, and public broadcasting. The two delegations launched a commemorative stamp to mark the 75th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relation.
“I have requested Prime Minister Modi to create permanent channels to enhance digital connections between small and medium-scale industries, and that will help in improving life of common people. Defence cooperation was part of today’s discussion and our joint military exercise is an example of that cooperation.
Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said the two sides took up sub-elements of defence cooperation like “defence training, defence exercises, cooperation both in the fields of platforms and equipment and industrial partnerships between the two countries to forge a stronger base for defence partnership”.