Who is Egypt’s Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, India's Republic Day chief guest?

India has invited Egypt’s Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to be the Chief Guest on 2023 Republic Day. This comes in the backdrop of 2022 marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the countries and defence minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister S Jaishankar both recently visiting Egypt and meeting Sisi. India has had no Republic Day guests  in the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The invite to the Sisi is noteworthy as Egypt has traditionally been one of India’s most important trading partners in the African continent. Bilateral trade has expanded rapidly in 2021-22, amounting to 7.26 billion registering a 75 per cent increase compared to FY 2020-21, according to the Indian embassy in Egypt. At present, the Indian community in Egypt numbers at around 3200, most of whom are concentrated in Cairo. There are also a small number of families in Alexandria, Port Said and Ismailia. But who is President Sisi? What do we know about him? Let’s take a closer look: Early life and military career As per BBC, Sisi was born in Cairo in 1954. He served in the infantry and commanded a mechanised division after graduating from the Egyptian Military Academy in 1977. A number of prestigious postings followed including military attaché in Saudi Arabia, chief-of-staff and then commander of Egypt’s Northern Military Zone, and head of Military Intelligence by Hosni Mubarak. Prior to his first appearance on state TV, Sisi was little-known. He kept a low profile as the chief of military intelligence under Hosni Mubarak, an approach which dates back to his childhood in the run-down Cairo neighbourhood of Gamaliya. While most boys played along alleys, Sisi kept to himself, focusing on his studies, working in his father’s shop after school and weightlifting, people who knew him say. Rise to political power Sisi first gained a public profile in 2011 as a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) in the aftermath of then president Hosni Mubarak stepping down, as per BBC.

Sisi has been the president of Egypt since 2014.

The former general took power after overthrowing Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected, and first civilian president Morsi, a leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, took power in 2012 after Mubarak was toppled. Morsi’s reign ended in July 2013 when Sisi, the man he had appointed as head of Egypt’s military, announced his ouster on state TV as troops took the Islamist leader into custody. A year later, Sisi was sworn into office following an election in which officials claimed he won 97 per cent of the vote. [caption id=“attachment_11695961” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] An Egyptian woman holds a sign with a picture of Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. AP[/caption] While Sisi vowed to rule in an inclusive manner, Western allies remained concerned by a crackdown on dissent. Their concerns would quickly be proven correct. Controversies After Sisi became Egypt’s de facto ruler, security forces mounted one of the toughest crackdowns on the Brotherhood in its 86-year history. Hundreds were killed in street protests and thousands of others jailed. On 14 August 2013, over 800 protesters were killed in Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda squares. As per Vox, it began with security services surrounded the squares and demanding protesters clear out. Though most people were still sleeping, security forces cut off most exits and quickly began firing live ammunition into the crowd. Investigators from Human Rights Watch said 817 protesters were killed though they put the toll at likely over 1,000. Which would make that day the deadliest in modern Egyptian history and one of the deadliest single-day mass killings in modern history, as per Vox. Secular activists were eventually thrown into jail too, even those who supported Mursi’s fall, because they violated a new law that severely restricts protests. Jaishankar, Rajnath visits to Egypt In October, Jaishankar had said that Prime Minister Modi has a very good personal relationship with President Sisi. “I know that he has been wanting to visit (Egypt) for some time. It is one of those situations, partly Covid, that has disrupted the travel schedule. But I can assure you it’s very much on his mind,” Jaishankar had said in response to a question. The last prime ministerial visit from India to Egypt took place in 2009 when Dr Manmohan Singh visited Cairo for the Non-Aligned Summit, according to the Indian Embassy website. During the meeting with President Sisi on Sunday, Jaishankar “deeply appreciated” his guidance in further developing various dimensions of Egypt-India relationship and briefed him on his discussions with Foreign Minister Shoukry. “As independent-minded nations, India and Egypt contribute to global discourse. And promote the cause of peace, progress and development,” Jaishankar tweeted. He said India values the participation of Egypt in the G20 during its chair ship. “We are fully committed to the success of COP27 under the Egyptian presidency,” he said. Jaishankar met his Egyptian counterpart Shoukry and discussed a range of issues including the Ukraine conflict and the Indo-Pacific and exchanged views on boosting bilateral ties and how to create a more resilient global economy. Jaishankar said India and Egypt’s cooperation in multilateral forums remains robust and welcomed Egyptian participation in G20 next year and in BRICS New Development Bank and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). India and Egypt share close political understanding based on a long history of contact and cooperation in bilateral, regional and global issues, he added. Singh said he discussed bilateral military-to-military cooperation with Sisi, with the latter emphasising that there is a need for both countries to exchange expertise and best practices in countering the threat of terrorism. During Singh’s visit, India and Egypt signed an MoU to further boost bilateral defence cooperation and reached a consensus on enhancing joint exercises. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .