Ashraf AboArafe
The Indian Minister of External Affairs, Dr. S. Jaishankar attends Egypt’s National Day celebrations, hosted by the Egyptian Embassy in New Delhi on July 22, 2024.
2. Expressing his best wishes to the government and people of Egypt on this occasion, Foreign Minister Dr Jaishankar emphasized the recent trajectory of bilateral relations and high-level bilateral visits during the year 2023. He stressed that the relationship between India and Egypt had risen to the level of strategic relations during the visit of His Excellency the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Cairo in June 2023 has lived up to the new nomenclature in terms of substance, activities and enthusiasm.
3. Dr. Jaishankar also drew attention to the economic cooperation between India and Egypt, which has witnessed remarkable momentum and diversification, as the two sides seek to find new opportunities to achieve mutual benefit through cooperation in the field of information technology industry and opening the Egyptian market to Indian agricultural exports, especially wheat. He pointed out that more than 50 Indian companies have already invested in various sectors of the Egyptian economy, especially the pharmaceutical, electronics and green energy sectors.
4. The Indian Minister of External Affairs also spoke about expanding areas of defense cooperation between the two countries, which included organizing regular bilateral exercises, in addition to holding maneuvers between the special forces of the two countries and the Indian Navy ships making frequent and regular visits to Egyptian ports. He pointed out that the defense industries in both countries are working to revive long-standing relations by undertaking new activities and through cooperation between the two countries.
5. Dr. Jaishankar also noted that bilateral cultural cooperation is an important pillar of India-Egypt relations. He also appreciated the growing popularity of yoga in Egypt, a fact that was also acknowledged by Prime Minister Modi himself during his speech on yoga on the occasion of the International Yoga Day celebration in 2024.
6. The Foreign Minister also highlighted the close cooperation between India and Egypt in various international forums. He expressed his appreciation for Egypt’s participation in the G20 during India’s presidency of the group, and reiterated that India strongly supports Egypt’s membership in the BRICS. He fondly referred to the friendly and comfortable working relationship he had with Egypt’s former Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, and expressed his hope to develop the same relationship with Egypt’s new Foreign Minister.
7. The Indian Minister of External Affairs concluded his speech by emphasizing the Indian government’s commitment to working to advance the strategic partnership between India and Egypt.
