Why PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Egypt matters

The next week is doing to be a busy one for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is heading to the United States on 20 June, where he will be meeting President Joe Biden, holding bilaterals and inking crucial deals. After his first official state visit to the US, the PM will be travelling to Egypt.

Modi will travel to Cairo for a state visit from 24 June to 25 June. “This visit to Egypt will mark Prime Minister Modi’s first official trip to the country,” the Ministry of External Affairs informed on Friday.

The invitation to the visit was extended by Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who was India’s chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations in January 2023.

We take a look at the agenda of the PM’s visit and how India has revived ties with Egypt in the past nine years under the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government.

What to expect from PM Modi’s Egypt visit

In Cairo, the Indian leader is expected to hold bilaterals with President Sisi, interact with senior dignitaries from the Egyptian government, engage with prominent Egyptian personalities, and meet the diaspora.

The announcement of the PM’s visit comes soon after Egypt formally applied for membership of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). The West Asian nation also has plans to ditch the US dollar while trading with BRICS nations, a move that promises greater economic cooperation.

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Egypt’s willingness to reduce dependence on the US dollar aligns with the BRICS’ vision to promote alternate currencies in international trade, including its own currency.

As Cairo looks to establish stronger ties with emerging economies, PM Modi’s visit assumes significance. During the upcoming visit, there will be talks on defence cooperation, education, and Egypt’s application to join the BRICS. The country is expected to make rapid economic growth, it has abundant natural resources and strategic control over the Suez Canal, which will make its addition to the bloc valuable, according to a report in Financial Express.

“Increased trade and investment between Egypt and the BRICS countries can contribute to economic development and foster greater cooperation within the group… Furthermore, Egypt’s application to join BRICS may influence the perceptions of other Middle Eastern and African nations toward the group,” the report says.

PM Modi has worked towards building stronger ties with Egypt, even inviting the country as a special guest at the G20 summit during India’s presidency.

Sisi’s invite to Modi is a reciprocation of New Delhi’s decision to have him as chief guest for Republic Day.

What did Modi and Sisi discuss in New Delhi?

In January, India and Egypt elevated the bilateral partnership to the level of a strategic partnership. Modi and Sisi decided that the two countries “‘will develop a long-term framework of greater cooperation in political, security, economic and scientific fields”.

According to India’s foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra, there are broadly four elements to the partnership: political, defence and security; economic engagement; scientific and academic collaboration; and cultural and people-to-people contacts.

The two countries also agreed that “concerted action is necessary to end cross-border terrorism” and that they would together alert the international community.

The decision to invite Sisi was part of India’s ongoing efforts to boost ties with Cairo. The president has visited India three times now since he took charge in June 2014 – for this year’s Republic Day, for the Third India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi in October 2015 and on a bilateral visit in 2016. He is likely to return in September for the G20 summit.

India wants to become the voice of the “Golbal South”, which includes countries in Asia, Africa and South America and Egypt is an important part of that.

Ahead of Sisi’s January visit, former India ambassador to Egpyt, Navdeep Suri, told DD India that the ties between the two nations have not lived up to their potential in the recent past. But added that India has “picked up the baton” and is trying to give a “fresh momentum” to the relationship with a country, which is “pivotal in its geopolitical location as it straddles Asia and Africa”.

What has changed under PM Modi?

Under PM Modi, the ties between India and Egypt have strengthened. Last year, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Cairo.

The two countries are exploring opportunities in new and renewable energy, trade and investment, education, tourism and connectivity and have agreed to promote independent thinking in a polarised world. Egypt is keen on establishing a premium institution like an IIT on its soil.

During Singh’s visit, the focus was to expand bilateral defence agreements. Egypt has shown interest in some of the made-in-India technologies like Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, the Akash missile system, and DRDO’s Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW).

Amid wheat shortage caused by the Russia-Ukraine war and restrictions on exports of the grain in India last year, the Modi-led government decided to make an exception for Egypt.

Bilateral trade between India and Egypt has expanded rapidly in 2021-22, amounting to $7.26 billion registering a 75 per cent increase compared to 2020-21, according to media reports.

With inputs from agencies

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