New DelhiEgyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s visit to Delhi next week is expected to focus on agriculture, defense sector and upgrade ties in many ways. This is the first time that Egypt has been invited as a guest at India’s Republic Day parade, something that will strengthen ties between Delhi and Cairo. Sisi will arrive in Delhi on January 24, with the main day of engagement on the 25th, when he will be formally welcomed at Rashtrapati Bhavan, and hold talks with PM Modi. Half a dozen MoUs are expected to be signed after the meeting and before the press statement by the two leaders. On 26th, he will attend the Republic Day parade on the duty path.
Recall on agriculture, Indian wheat reached Egypt for the first time after New Delhi exempted 61,000 tonnes last year. Wheat was sent to Egypt with the first installment in May 2022. Earlier, Egypt had banned the import of Indian wheat, but all restrictions were lifted amid supply disruptions due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Egypt has shown interest in acquiring aircraft-LCA Tejas, radars, missiles like Akash missile system and DRDO’s Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW). The Indian side is also open to sharing technology and co-production, even as Delhi is offering courses to Egyptians as part of capacity building. The country has been invited to participate in Aero-India 2023 at the Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru. In a sign of growing defense cooperation last year, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh visited the country, during which an agreement on cooperation in this area was also signed.
India has been invited for exercise Bright Star in September. Exercise Bright Star is a joint training exercise between the United States and Egypt led by the Egyptian military that is held every two years. India had also participated in the exercise in 2000.
This is President Sisi’s third visit to India since taking office in June 2014. He last visited India in September 2016 on a bilateral visit, and had earlier attended the 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi in October 2015. This is the 5th time that India has invited a country from West Asia/Sub-Saharan Africa for Republic Day after Algeria in 2001, Iran in 2003, Saudi Arabia in 2006 and UAE in 2017.
Education is another area that is expected to receive attention. The Egyptian side wants to set up an Indian higher education center like IIT. The country, with one of the largest economies in that part of the world and a large population, is seen as the natural partner of choice for India. With several free trade agreements in place with countries in West Asia and Africa, it can become a gateway for Indian investors. Bilateral trade is set to expand rapidly in 2021-22, registering a growth of 75% over FY 2020-21 to Rs 7.26 billion.
The two countries have a joint working group on the issue of counter-terrorism which will meet next month. The country, seen as a moderate and influential voice in the Islamic world, has repeatedly condemned terrorism. In the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, it has not supported Pakistani policies.