Sisi visits next week; defence on agenda
Sisi, a military chief-turned-President, is acutely aware of the strategic challenges in the region, and wants to equip the Egyptian military.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is this year’s R-Day chief guest (REUTERS/File) WITH EGYPT’S President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi visiting India next week as the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations, security, defence, cybersecurity and agriculture is expected to dominate the agenda between the two countries.
The two sides are looking at signing about half-a-dozen pacts on some of these sectors, including IT and culture, and Egypt wants to partner with India on defence and agriculture in a major way. Egypt is interested in procuring defence equipment from India, which includes LCA Tejas, missiles like Akash, DRDO’s Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon, radars. This is being developed as part of defence industry cooperation, and one of the markers was that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had visited Cairo last year when a defence pact was signed.
Sisi, a military chief-turned-President, is acutely aware of the strategic challenges in the region, and wants to equip the Egyptian military.
In fact, to showcase the defence ties, an Egyptian military contingent will be participating in the Republic Day parade as well.
As a follow-up to their interest in acquiring Indian indigenous technology, Egypt has also been invited to participate in the Aero-India 2023 at Yelahanka Air Force Station, Bengaluru, next month.
Egypt, too, is reciprocating, as India has been invited for Exercise Bright Star — joint training exercises led by US and Egyptian forces held every two years — in Egypt in September this year.
WITH Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi coming to India, defence and security is a priority. Seen as a moderate voice in the region, Egypt and India will be looking at closer cooperation in view of regional security challenges. The Republic Day invitation is expected to cement those ties.
Security cooperation is one more area of strong cooperation, since Egypt and India share greater convergence on the issue. With Egypt fighting the challenge of terrorism, India wants to partner with the country where Sisi is seen as having tackled terrorism with an iron hand. A possible pact on cybersecurity is on the table, and the details are being worked out.
Egypt, which is facing shortage of food grains since their major source used to be Ukraine and Russia, also wants to buy wheat from India. In May last year, India — which had put a ban on sale of wheat — had allowed export of 61,000 tonnes of wheat to Egypt. But the country wants more grains, in view of the shortages.
Egypt’s President is also coming at a time when the country is facing a massive economic crisis due to depleted forex reserves. While there has been no request for budgetary support, India is looking at increasing Indian investments in the country, especially in major infrastructure projects.
Sisi has come to India twice in the past nine years. But this is the first time Egypt is going to be the chief guest at the Republic Day. Both countries are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year.
Sisi, who comes to India on January 24, will be holding talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 25 and participate in the Republic Day celebrations. The invite to be the R-Day chief guest is highly symbolic from India’s perspective. New Delhi has been weaving a strategy with hospitality to decide its chief guest for the event.
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