On Thursday, India invited Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as the Chief Guest on Republic Day on January 26 next year, as part of New Delhi’s endeavours to improve and strengthen its political and military relations with Cairo. The invite to Egyptian President El Sisi is also viewed as India’s outreach to the continent and to the country which is Africa’s second-largest economy. Both countries commemorated the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic ties this year.
According to the reports, the red carpet reception for President Sisi indicates that Delhi-Cairo connections will gain special emphasis in the coming months and years. Dr S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh both visited the nation earlier this year. During their travels, both ministers met with Egypt’s President, with Jaishankar delivering a personal message from Prime Minister Modi to him.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Cairo in September was regarded as a crucial gesture, as both countries expanded military ties. During his visit, he met with his Egyptian counterpart, General Mohamed Zaki, and an MoU in the defence sector was inked. Both leaders also agreed to focus on cooperative training, defense co-production, and equipment maintenance. Reportedly, Egypt also is interested in acquiring Tejas fighter planes from India.
The country was also welcomed to the India-Africa Defence Dialogue and the IOR Defence Ministers’ Conclave, which took place in October on the margins of the 12th DefExpo in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. There has been one strong collaboration between the Indian and Egyptian air forces, including efforts in the 1960s to jointly build a fighter aircraft. From the 1960s to 1984, IAF pilots also mentored Egyptian pilots. Egypt often offers transit services to IAF and Indian Navy aircraft traveling to and from Russia, Europe, and the United States.
In September 2016, President Sisi had visited India. Sisi also met PM Modi in October 2015 at the Third India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi. Both leaders also had met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York the same year.
The North African country has also been invited by India to the G20 summit, which will be held in New Delhi in September 2023. This is the second time the Modi government has invited an African leader to celebrate Republic Day. India has been eager to strengthen connections with Africa, and the next India-Africa summit, which was conducted in 2015, might also take place next year.
Egypt has long been one of India’s most significant African commercial partners. Despite the Covid pandemic, trade volume dropped only a little, to US $ 4.5 billion in 2019-20 and US $ 4.15 billion in 2020-21. During the Russia-Ukraine crisis, India also had supplied wheat to the country.
Prior to the crisis, Egypt imported about 80% of its wheat supply from Russia and Ukraine. In April of this year, the Egyptian Cabinet declared that India had been added to the list of recognized nations that can export wheat to Egypt, putting an end to a long-standing non-tariff barrier.
Notably, Egypt has never been invited to India’s Republic Day commemorations since 1950. India has welcomed its most guests from Asian countries (36), followed by Europe (24), Africa (11), South Africa (6), North America (2), and Oceania (1). Since PM Modi assumed office in 2014, India has invited US President Barack Obama (2015), French President Francois Hollande (2016), UAE’s Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan (2017), all ASEAN leaders (2018), South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa (2019), and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro (2020).
However, no republic guests were invited in the previous two years (2021 and 2022) due to the COVID pandemic. This year, India wanted to invite all Central Asian leaders, but the plan got thwarted by COVID spread. Boris Johnson, the then-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was invited as a guest in 2021, but Britain was dealing with the COVID issue at the time. This year’s republic day will be presided over by new Indian President Draupadi Murmu.