Egypt President El-Sisi's Delhi visit to bolster focus on agriculture, defence in ties

Egypt President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's visit to New Delhi next week is expected to strengthen focus on agriculture, defence, as part of efforts to elevate India-Egypt ties. This is the first time that Egypt has been invited as 'guest country' at India's Republic Day celebrations. Sisi is scheduled to arrive in NewDelhi on January 24th,with the main day of engagement being 25th when he will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhawan, the officialresidence of President of India.

On January 25, Sisi is also scheduled to hold talks with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At least half a dozen Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs)are expected to be signed between the two sides after the meeting and ahead of the press statement by the twoleaders. On January 26,President Sisi of Egypt will attend India'sRepublic Day parade on the Kartavya Path in New Delhi.

India-Egypt ties: The agriculture factor

Last year, for the first time, India'swheat exports reached Egypt after New Delhi gave an exemption for 61,000 tonnes to Cairo. The wheat was sent to Egypt in tranches, with the first tranche sent in May 2022.

Earlier Egypt had banned import of Indian wheat. But after the supplies were impacted due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Cairo removed relatedimport restrictions.

On Defence: Growing India-Egypt engagement

Egypt has shown interest in getting India's homegrown defence technologies, such asLCA Tejas, radar technology, missile technology like Akash missile system and DRDO's Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW).

Egypthas also been invited to participate in the Aero-India 2023 at Yelahanka Air Force Station, Bengaluru. Last year,as sign of growing defence co-operation between New Delhi and Cairo, India'sDefence Minister Rajnath Singh had visited the country during which a pact on cooperation in the sector was also signed.

India, too, hasbeen invited for Bright Star exercises in September. Bright Star are joint training exercises led by United States and Egyptian forces and held in Egypt every two years. India had last participated in the bright star exercises in 2000.

This is President Sisi's third visit to India since taking charge in June 2014.He last visited India on a bilateral visit in September 2016, and before that attended the Third India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi in October 2015. It is also for the fifth time that India has invited a country from West Asia/Saharan Africa on Republic Day, after Algeria in 2001, Iran in 2003, Saudi Arabia in 2006 and UAE in 2017.

Education and counter-terrorism: An engagement with bilateral coherence

Education is another area which is expected to be in focus. The Egyptian side wants to establish an Indian higher education centre like Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs)in Egypt. The country, with one of the largest economies in West Asiaand a large population, is seen as the natural partner of choice for India. With several free trade agreements with countries in west Asia and Africa, Egypt could become a gateway for Indian investors.

Bilateral trade between India and Egypt has expanded rapidly in 2021-22, amounting to $7.26 billion registering a 75 per cent increase compared to Finance Year 2020-21.

On the issue of counter-terrorism, both countries have a joint working group which will be meeting next month. Seen as a moderate and influential voice in Islamic world, Egypt has denounced terrorism several times. The country has chosen to not support Pakistani policies at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

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