India has invited Egyptian President General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as the Chief Guest for the Republic Day Parade in 2023. It is the first time that an Egyptian President will be the chief guest on India's Republic Day.
"At the invitation of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, H.E. Mr. Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, will be the Chief Guest at India's Republic Day celebrations on January 26, 2023. This is the first time that the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt will be the Chief Guest at our Republic Day," the Ministry of External Affairs said in the press release.
In the press release, the Ministry of External Affairs noted that India and Egypt have "warm and friendly relations" based on civilizational and deep-rooted people-to-people ties. This year, India and Egypt will be marking the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. The MEA in the release stated that India has invited Egypt as the 'guest country' during India's G20 presidency in 2022-2023. Notably, India will assume the G20 Presidency on December 1.
Notably, Egypt has been one of India's largest trading partners in Africa and India-Egypt bilateral agreement has been in operation since 1978, according to MEA. Earlier in October, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar visited Egypt to review bilateral ties between the two nations.
During his visit, Jaishankar held a meeting with Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry and said that both of them discussed the Ukraine conflict and Indo-Pacific and also invited Egypt to the G20 summit to be chaired by New Delhi.
In the opening remarks at the joint conference, Jaishankar said, "We discussed the Ukraine conflict and its repercussions and also about fertilizers, food and energy security. We shared our views on the Indo-Pacific and had an exchange of views on Palestine issues as well. Our Chairmanship of G20 starts this year, and we have invited Egypt to be a guest."
Jaishankar further said, "Last year was our highest-ever trade in excess of USD 7.2 billion. Today we reviewed that and agreed that there are possibilities for more growth. Investments have also been very positive. Indian companies today have a reported investment of more than $3 billion." He noted that the Indian Air Force with the Egyptian Air Force had important exercises and had regular ship visits to Egypt.
( With inputs from ANI )
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