Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Egypt’s highest civilian honour 'Order of The Nile' as he met the Arab Republic’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, in Cairo on Sunday even as the two nations signed three Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in agriculture, archaeology and antiquities as well as competition law.
Modi and Sisi also formally signed an agreement to elevate the India-Egypt bilateral ties to “strategic partnership” as the two sides had agreed during the visit of the Arab Republic’s president to New Delhi to attend the Republic Day ceremony on January 26 last.
The two leaders discussed ways to further deepen the partnership between the two countries, particularly in areas like trade and investment, information technology, defence and security, renewable energy, agriculture, health, culture and people to people ties, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said.
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They also discussed further cooperation in the G20, highlighting the issues of food and energy insecurity, climate change and the need for Global South to have a concerted voice.
Modi conveyed to Sisi that he would look forward to welcoming the president of the Arab Republic again in New Delhi to attend the G20 summit on September 9 and 10.
India has invited Egypt as a “guest country” in the G20 summit.
Modi thanked Sisi for bestowing on him the Order of the Nile, the highest civilian award of Egypt.
“It is with great humility that I accept the 'Order of the Nile.’ I thank the Government and people of Egypt for this honour. It indicates the warmth and affection they have towards India and the people of our nation,” the prime minister tweeted.
The Modi-Sisi meeting between the two leaders touched on the ways to enhance bilateral relations across many fields, mainly communications and Information Technology, pharmaceutical industries, vaccines, higher education, and renewable energy including green hydrogen, in addition to tourism and culture through direct flights between Cairo and New Delhi, Ahmed Fahmy, a spokesperson of the presidential office of the Government of Egypt, said in a press statement.
They also discussed ways to boost trade and the exchange of strategic goods between the two countries, as well as developing investments from India in Egypt, he added.
The prime minister visited the Heliopolis Commonwealth War Cemetery and paid homage to the soldiers from India who had fought for the British Army and laid down lives in Egypt during World War I. “A tribute to India’s brave soldiers, whose courage will never be forgotten,” Modi posted on Twitter.
“We had a rich discussion on the cultural histories of our nations and how to deepen these linkages in the times to come,” he said in another tweet after Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly accompanied him on a tour of Pyramids.
Modi also visited the historic Al-Hakim Mosque on Sunday. The 11th-century mosque was restored and reconstructed by Dawoodi Bohras in Egypt.
His bond with the Dawoodi Bohras of Gujarat dates back to his tenure as the chief minister of Gujarat.
After completing his state visit to the United States, the prime minister flew from Washington DC to Cairo on Saturday for his first tour to Egypt. He and Madbouly had a one-to-one meeting, before being joined by other ministers of the Government of Egypt. He also had a meeting with Egypt’s Grand Mufti Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam.
He left Cairo for Delhi on Sunday.