Republic Day: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the chief guest of the Republic Day celebrations this year, arrived in India on Tuesday (January 24, 2023). This is the first time that an Egyptian President has been invited as the chief guest for the event.
This visit of the President of Egypt to India is being considered very important in many ways. With Sisi being a former army chief, Egypt can buy defense equipment from India. Which includes missiles like LCA Tejas, Akash, DRDO’s smart anti-airfield weapon and radar. It is being developed as part of defense industry collaboration.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh visited Cairo last year when a defense deal was signed. Egypt has also been invited to participate in Aero-India 2023 at the Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru next month. And a contingent of the Egyptian army will take part in the Republic Day parade.
Egypt facing food shortage
Egypt which is facing food shortage. Because its main sources were the warring Ukraine and Russia. He wants to buy wheat from India. In May last year, India banned the sale of wheat. Despite that, Egypt was allowed to export 61,000 tons, but given the grain shortage, the country wanted more grain.
Egypt has traditionally been one of India’s most important trading partners in the African continent. The India-Egypt bilateral trade agreement has been in operation since March 1978 and is based on the Most Favored Nation clause.
Bilateral trade between India and Egypt grew more than five times in the last 10 years
Bilateral trade between India and Egypt has grown more than five times in the last 10 years. It reached US$ 4.55 billion in 2018-19. Despite the pandemic, trade declined marginally to USD 4.5 billion in 2019-20 and USD 4.15 billion in 2020-21. Bilateral trade is set to expand rapidly in 2021-2022. 7.26 billion with an increase of 75 percent from the financial year 2020-2021. Officials said the two countries would focus on a number of areas and agriculture would be one of the key areas of cooperation.
India and Egypt have close political understanding based on a long history of cooperation on bilateral, regional and global issues. A joint declaration on the establishment of diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level was made on August 18, 1947.
