Ashraf AboArafe
On Saturday, August 3, Dr. Badr Abdel Aati, Minister of Foreign Affairs (FA) and Immigration, made a phone call to Mr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of India.
Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, Official Spokesperson and Director of the Public Diplomacy Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, stated that Jaishankar began the call by congratulating the Minister on assuming his new position, as well as on the occasion of the celebration of the glorious July 23 anniversary, pointing out the Indian side’s aspiration to continue the growing pace of bilateral cooperation between Egypt and India during the coming period, and to push these relations to broader horizons. The Indian Foreign Minister added that his country clearly appreciates the participation of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as the guest of honor at the Indian Republic Day celebrations in 2023, which confirms the importance and specialness of bilateral relations between the two countries.
For his part, Minister Abdel Aati congratulated his Indian counterpart on the victory of the ruling party coalition in the parliamentary elections held in India last June, praising the distinguished bilateral relations between Egypt and India in a large number of fields, and stressing the interest of the Egyptian political leadership in enhancing bilateral cooperation between the two countries in all areas of common interest. The official spokesman added that Minister Dr. Abdel Aati touched upon the multiple meetings that brought together His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the past period, which culminated in raising relations between Egypt and India to the level of “strategic partnership”, and largely reflected the similarity of political positions and development priorities on both sides. In the same context, the Minister of Foreign Affairs reviewed the most important areas of joint cooperation that have witnessed remarkable growth recently, most notably the fields of communications and information technology, pharmaceutical industries, and new and renewable energy, in addition to EgyptAir’s launch of a direct flight line between Cairo and New Delhi, noting the Egyptian side’s welcome to the boom in joint cooperation witnessed during that period, and our aspiration to continue at the same pace in the future.
Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid concluded his statements by indicating that Minister Dr. Abdel Aati expressed during the call his aspiration to participate in the foreign ministers’ session in the third edition of the virtual South Summit, scheduled to be held during the current month, appreciating India’s keenness to cooperate and coordinate between the countries of the South on the most important issues of common interest, and at the same time expressing Egypt’s aspiration to continue this cooperation in light of the two countries’ membership in the “BRICS” group, and Egypt’s participation in the G20 Summit scheduled to be held next November in Brazil.
At the end of the call, the two ministers agreed to intensify coordination and consultation between them during the coming period, and to hold a bilateral meeting at the earliest opportunity, whether in Cairo, New Delhi, or on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
