India, Egypt elevate ties to 'strategic partnership

NEW DELHI: India and Egypt on Wednesday decided to elevate their ties to the "strategic partnership" level covering various sectors, including political, security, defence, energy and economic areas. Both the countries have also exchanged Memorandum of Understandings in the fields of cyber security, culture, information technology and broadcasting, according to a statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi witnessed the exchange of MoUs between the two nations, it said. PM Modi and President Sisi also witnessed the exchange of commemorative postage stamps to mark the milestone of 75 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties between India and Egypt, the statement said.

An MoU was also signed between the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team and the Egyptian Computer Emergency Readiness Team in the cyber security sector. Union Minister of Communication and Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw and Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dr Amr Ahmed Samih Talaat exchanged a Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of Information Technology between the two nations.

Union Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Development of North Eastern region G Kishan Reddy and Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Hassan Shoukry exchanged MoU in the field of culture between the two nations, the MEA said.

Egypt and India exchanged an MoU on cooperation in youth matters between the two nations. Furthermore, the two nations exchanged an MoU for cooperation on Broadcasting between India's Prasar Bharati and Egypt's National Media Authority.

Earlier in the day, Egyptian President El-Sisi met PM Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. They shook hands and posed for the cameras before proceeding for the meeting and delegation-level talks on bilateral, regional, and global issues of mutual interest. Sisi will be the Chief Guest on India's 74th Republic Day, marking the first time the President of Egypt has been invited as chief guest on India's Republic Day.

After the meeting, the two leaders issued a joint statement and shared details regarding the meeting. Egyptian President said that the two leaders discussed about trade, investment and how to bolster cooperation in import and export.

"I am going to take part in the Republic Day parade. I am thankful to PM Modi for such a grand welcome. During our discussions, we talked about trade and investment and how to further expand our cooperation in import and export," Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said. "We also discussed cooperation in Green hydrogen and renewable energy sectors. India and Egypt are old cultural civilizations.

The issue of connectivity was also discussed between the two countries in order to boost tourism," he further said. Meanwhile, PM Modi in his joint statement with Egyptian President said, "We have decided that under India-Egypt Strategic Partnership, we will develop a long-term framework for more comprehensive cooperation in political, security, economic and scientific fields."

He further said, "We have also decided in today's meeting to further strengthen cooperation between our defense industries, and to increase exchange of counter-terrorism information and intelligence."