Chief Editor writes
It’s thought that Egypt–Pakistan relations refers to the bilateral relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Modern relations traced back to 1947 when founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah paid a farewell visit to Egypt on the special invitation sent by King Fuad II. Egypt has an embassy in Islamabad and Pakistan has an embassy in Cairo. Both countries are members of the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) and the “D8“.
Pakistan and Egypt are both designated Major Non-NATO allies, giving them access to certain levels of hardware and surplus military equipment from the United States.
Both Egypt and Pakistan have a close nationalist bond, the two nations were founded as modern nation-states in an era of nationalism, with a pre-dominant Muslim population. Modern Egypt regards its founder as Muhammad Ali of Egypt while Muhammad Ali Jinnah is regarded as Pakistan’s founder.
Politically!
In 1951, the two countries signed a friendship agreement, signifying the strong ties between the two countries. President Gamal Abdul Nasser, who visited Pakistan in 1960 for the first time, interfered in 1965 to halt the Indian-Pakistani war. Pakistan played host to some Egyptian warships during the 1973 Egyptian-Israeli war, so Pakistan actually contributed to the Egyptian victory.
* OIC!
Egypt and Pakistan are members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation. Moreover, the two countries are jointly coordinating on different fronts in international organizations. In September 2008, under the banner of OIC, Egypt and Pakistan, on behalf of the Muslim World, presented and sponsored a UN Human Rights Council Resolution to ban defaming of religion.
* Hand in hand🤝!
On 9/4/2015, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Defense Minister Sedqi Sobhi visited Pakistan to support aspects of cooperation and military ties between the armed forces of the two countries in many areas.
In 2008, Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, made his first trip abroad to Egypt.
* Economically!
The volume of trade between the two countries increased by 55% in 2007-2008 to reach $313 millions, which still remains relatively low compared to the potentials and the close relations which both countries enjoy.
In investment, among the different Egyptian enterprises investing in the Pakistani market, Orascom Telecom Holding (Mobilink) is actively engaged in the Telecommunication sector in Pakistan with a total investment exceeding 2 billion USD. On the other side, Several Pakistani investments in the field of textile industry are based now in Egypt.
* Trade exchange!
The volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Pakistan reached $741 million in 2012 as compared to $864 million in 2011.
Egyptian exports to Pakistan amounted to about $82 million; imports to $658 million.
* New windows!
In addition, Egypt and Pakistan have started to open up new windows for cooperation in several fields, including agriculture, health, higher education, technical support, ICT, and others.
* To boost bilateral co-operation!
Egypt and Pakistan have agreed to enhance the existing level of co-operation between the two countries which include economic and commercial relations, investment opportunities, co-operation in public and civil services, health sector, agriculture, and postal, both countries would further enhance their co-operation in the alternative energy sector particularly wind power generation.
There are over 700 Pakistanis living in Egypt, mainly in Cairo and Alexandria. Relations are helped by the fact that both states have Muslim majorities and there is a strong people-to-people contact between both countries.
* Al-Azhar!
Al-Azhar University continues to offer its 30 scholarships to the Pakistani students each year. This number is expected to increase to 50 soon. Additionally, 30 Egyptian professors have been sent to teach at the International Islamic University in Islamabad. Furthermore, Pakistani scholars benefit from the scholarships offered by the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture.
* Humanly!
Egypt continues to support Pakistan in its war against terrorism. In May 2009, and upon direct instructions of former President Hosni Mubarak, Assistant Foreign Minister visited Islamabad to show Egypt’s support and solidarity with the people and government of Pakistan. Along with the visit, Egypt was the first country to send relief consignment for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and still sending humanitarian assistance to Pakistan for the same purpose.
* Militarily!
Egypt and Pakistan have close relations in the fields of defence production and the two nations frequently maintain contacts of high-level delegations of military chiefs, in a meeting with Raheel Sharif, Egypt’s president affirmed his wish to further promote military co-operation with Pakistan.
