Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs set to visit India from February 6-7

The Ministry of External Affairs in a statement said that the Egypt's Foreign Minister will arrive in New Delhi in the early hours of February 6 and later in the day, call on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Following this, he will pay tribute at Rajghat with a wreath-laying ceremony. In the evening, he is scheduled to meet with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at Hyderabad House. The visit will conclude with his departure in the early hours of February 7.

According to the Embassy of India in Cairo, India and Egypt, two of the world's oldest civilizations, have enjoyed a history of close contact from ancient times. In modern times, Mahatma Gandhi and Saad Zaghloul shared common goals on the independence of their countries, a relationship that was to blossom into an exceptionally close friendship between President Nasser and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, leading to a Friendship Treaty between the two countries in 1955.

The joint announcement of establishment of diplomatic relations at Ambassadorial level was made on 18 August 1947. Both countries have cooperated closely in multilateral fora and were the founding members of Non-Aligned Movement in 1961.

There have been five Prime Ministerial visits from India to Egypt since 1980's: Rajiv Gandhi (1985); PV Narasimha Rao (1995); IK Gujral (1997); Dr. Manmohan Singh (2009, NAM Summit); and Narendra Modi (2023). During the State Visit of PM Modi in June 2023, an agreement was signed upgrading bilateral relations to Strategic Partnership. During the visit, PM Modi was also conferred with the 'Order of the Nile' - the highest civilian award of Egypt.

In addition, Prime Minister Modi and President Sisi have also met on the sidelines of UNGA, New York in September 2015, and on the sidelines of 9th BRICS Summit at Xiamen in September 2017. Against the backdrop of Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, PM Modi also held a telephonic conversation with President Sisi on 28th October 2023. (ANI)