"Egypt, India looking forward to strengthen and deepen bilateral ties," says former Indian diplomat

New Delhi [India], June 26 : Former Indian diplomat KP Fabian has said that Egypt conferring Prime Minister Narendra Modi with its highest state honour showed that both the nations are looking forward to strengthening the bilateral ties with each other.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi bestowed the 'Order of the Nile' upon PM Modi in Cairo on Sunday.

"Yes as you know Egypt's President El Sisi was a chief guest on our Republic Day this year. And, right now our Prime Minister has gone there for a state visit and is being awarded the highest state honour of the country. It means, Egypt and India both are looking forward to strengthening and deepening the bilateral ties with each other," Fabian told ANI.

The PM's visit also highlighted that Egypt's relationship is very important to India, he added.

He also spoke on the ongoing Russian crisis and said that as per the agreement, Wagner mercenary forces Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin will move to Belarus and there will be no further proceedings against him or his mercenaries.

"It is an agreement, that Prigozhin will move to Belarus, and that there will be no further proceedings against him or his mercenaries, or all the mercenaries will register with the military," Fabian said.

On Saturday Prigozhin decided to halt his march to Moscow after the Belarusian president stated he was in talks with Prigozhin about an agreement to "de-escalate tensions."

Taking to Twitter, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus wrote, "At 9 p.m. tonight, the Presidents spoke again by phone. The President of Belarus Lukashenko informed the President of Russia about the results of negotiations w/ the leader of the Wagner Group. President Putin thanked his counterpart for the work done."

On being asked about Russian democracy, the former Indian envoy said, "Well, Russia is not exactly a democracy... you know what I mean. But it has its own type of government but in any case, the present crisis has been resolved."

He further added, "Russian President Putin has brought it to a close instead of Prigozhin's forces coming to Moscow because they couldn't have come to Moscow in any case unless there was a split in the Russian military, which was not there. So, this small force should have been annihilated but that means Russians shedding Russian blood which obviously Putin did not want."

On Saturday morning, Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, in a Telegram post, announced that his men had crossed the border from Ukraine into southern Russia and were ready to go "all the way" against the Russian military, TASS News Agency reported.

He said he and his men would destroy anyone who stood in their way. "But we will destroy anyone who stands in our way," he said, adding, "We are moving forward and will go until the end."

However, later, as soon as the armed mutiny came to an end, Russia also announced that the charges against Wagner Chief Prigozhin would be dropped.

The Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S Peskov said Prigozhin will go to Belarus, and the fighters who rebelled with him would not be prosecuted by law given their "service at the front."

"Wagner fighters who did not participate in the mutiny can sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense," New York Times quoted Peskov as saying.

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