Republic Day 2023: PM Modi holds bilateral talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi visited Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Wednesday ahead of India's 74th Republic Day. He met with Prime Minister Modi in Delhi and decided to elevate their ties to the level of strategic partnership.

The President of Egypt has been invited as the chief guest for India's Republic Day celebrations for the first time. Earlier in the day, President Sisi was welcomed at Rashtrapati Bhavan by President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and several Union Ministers.

Egyptian President El-Sisi on Wednesday held bilateral talks with PM Modi over wide-ranging issues, including agriculture, digital domain, culture and trade. Addressing a joint media statement after the talks, President El-Sisi said he has invited PM Modi to Cairo to complete the talks and take the relations between the two nations forward.

"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 said.

He further said, "I met PM Modi in 2015 in New York and I had full confidence in him. I knew he would take his nation forward. I have invited Prime Minister Modi to Cairo, Egypt to complete our talks and elevate the ties between the two nations to a strategic partnership."

In bilateral talks on Wednesday, Egypt President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi told PM, Modi, about investment opportunities in Egypt and the government's measures to promote investment in Cairo.

"I told PM, Modi, about investment opportunities in Egypt and the Egyptian government's actions to promote investment. I expressed the desire for India to increase its investment in various sectors in Egypt, especially the Suez Canal Economic Zone," Sisi said.

The visiting dignitary said, "We have witnessed the willingness of Indian companies working in Egypt to increase their presence in the Suez Canal Economic Zone. Many Indian companies have expressed willingness to invest in promising sectors of Egypt."

According to the Egyptian President, the two leaders discussed security cooperation between India and Egypt. El-Sisi said that they spoke about terrorism and discussed COP27. He expressed gratitude to PM Modi for inviting Egypt as a guest country for the upcoming G20 summit. He stressed that India and Egypt are "old cultural civilizations."

"We also discussed cooperation in Green hydrogen and renewable energy sectors. India and Egypt are old cultural civilizations. The connectivity issue was also discussed between the two countries to boost tourism," Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said.

"We spoke about fighting against terrorism, and also discussed COP27. We also discussed the security cooperation between Egypt and India. I have thanked PM, Modi, for inviting Egypt as a guest country for the upcoming G20 summit," the Egyptian President said.

Addressing the joint statement after the bilateral talks at Hyderabad House here, PM Modi 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 strengthen cooperation between our defence industries further, and to increase the exchange of counter-terrorism information and intelligence." 

(With ANI inputs)