Political Relations
India and Egypt share close political understanding based on long history of contacts and cooperation in bilateral, regional and global issues. The joint announcement of establishment of diplomatic relations at Ambassadorial level was made on 18 August 1947. Both countries have cooperated closely in multilateral fora and were the founding members of Non-Aligned Movement. The year 2022 is of particular significance since it marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relation between India and Egypt.
Since the 1980s, there have been four Prime Ministerial visits from India to Egypt: Shri Rajiv Gandhi (1985); Shri P. V. Narasimha Rao (1995); Shri I. K. Gujral (1997); and Dr. Manmohan Singh (2009, NAM Summit). From the Egyptian side, President Hosni Mubarak visited India in 1982, in 1983 (NAM Summit), and again in 2008. High level exchanges with Egypt continued after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution and then President Mohamed Morsi visited India in March 2013. External Affairs Minister (EAM) visited Cairo in March 2012 and the Egyptian Foreign Minister visited India in December 2013.
After the new government led by President Sisi took over in June 2014, EAM paid a visit to Cairo in August 2015. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Sisi on the sidelines of UNGA, New York in September 2015. President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Modi met President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi during the Third India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi in October 2015. President Sisi also paid a State visit to India in September 2016. A Joint Statement was issued, outlining the three pillars of political-security cooperation, economic engagement & scientific collaboration and cultural & people-people ties as the basis of a new partnership for a new era.
Other Visits & Engagements: During 2015 to 2019, a number of Ministerial and official visits took place from India to Egypt and vice-versa. The latest Ministerial visit from India to Egypt was that of Minister of State (IC) for Civil Aviation, Housing and Urban Affairs and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Hardeep Singh Puri in November 2019. He met with Minister of Trade & Industry of Egypt and also delivered the keynote address at the inaugural session of the “Regional Conclave on India - West Asia and North Africa (WANA)” organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). There have also been exchange of visits at the level of NSA’s as well various Parliamentary delegations from 2010-2019. There were no major engagements in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In February 2021, the Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces, Minister of Defence & Military Production, General Mohamed Ahmed Zaki, participated virtually in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) Defence Ministers Conclave at Bengaluru. The most significant visit in 2021 has been of Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari. He visited Egypt from 28th November to 2nd December 2021.
Bilateral mechanisms: There are several mechanisms of bilateral institutional dialogue at different levels. The 11th round of Foreign Office Consultations was held at Delhi in December 2015. The first Joint Working Group on Cyber Issues was held in New Delhi in December 2016. The 4th Joint Committee Meeting on S&T was held in New Delhi in April 2017. The 2nd ISRO-NARSS JWG was held in Cairo in November 2017. 7th round of Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) was held in March 2018 in New Delhi, in which an Egyptian delegation headed by FM Shoukry participated. The 8th Joint Defence Committee (JDC) was held in New Delhi from 26-29 December, 2018 and the 9th JDC was held in Cairo from 5-7 November, 2019. The 2nd India-Egypt JWG on Counter Terrorism held in Cairo in January 2018. The India-Egypt Workshops on Agriculture-Biotechnology and Nanotechnology were held in Shillong in September 2018 and in Mumbai in January 2019, respectively. The 4th Joint Trade Committee was held in New Delhi in March 2019. The 1st JWG on Agriculture, Plant Quarantine and Animal Quarantine also met on the sidelines of the 4th JTC in March 2019. After a gap of over an year, the bilateral mechanisms restarted on 3rd March 2021 with JWG on Trade and Investment being held by videocon. The 5th Joint Committee Meeting on Science and Technology was held on 5th October 2021 in virtual mode, focusing on agriculture, nanotechnology, biotechnology and renewable energy. 1st JWG on Drugs & Pharmaceuticals was held on 14th March 2022 and on 11th April 2022, 1st JWG on Health & Medicine was held. There are plans to hold a Joint Working Group on Environment as well.
Recent Developments: PM Narendra Modi held a phone conversation with President Sisi on 17th April 2020 to discuss efforts to halt the spread of the Coronavirus, and again on 26th April 2020 to exchange Eid-ul-Fitr greetings. PM expressed his appreciation for the support extended by Egyptian authorities for the safety and welfare of Indian nationals in Egypt during the COVID-19 crisis and conveyed his desire to meet President Sisi as soon as circumstances permit.
President Sisi expressed sympathy and solidarity with the People and Government of India during the second wave of COVID-19, on 30th April 2021. Egypt dispatched three planes with medical supplies to India on 9th May 2021. In addition, Embassy of India also signed an agreement to procure 300,000 doses of REMDESEVIR from M/s EVA Pharma, Egypt; which were provided well before schedule.
FM Shoukry spoke to EAM, by telecon, on 30th June 2021, to seek India’s support for Egypt’s position on GERD in the UNSC. Later on 21st September 2021, EAM met with FM Shoukry in New York on the side-lines of 76th UNGA Session. Both discussed strengthening of bilateral cooperation, GERD issue and situation in Afghanistan. Recently, on 7th January 2022, EAM again held a telecon with FM Shoukry to convey best wishes for the New Year. Both discussed bilateral ties and agreed to take it to higher levels.
India-LAS Engagement: The 3rd Senior Official Meeting of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum took place virtually on 12th January 2021. The meeting was co-chaired by Secretary (CPV & OIA) Shri Sanjay Bhattacharyya and Asst. Foreign Minister and Permanent Representative of Egypt to the LAS, Amb. Mohamed Abu Al-Kheir. The discussions focused on issues of mutual concern on both regional and international levels, collaboration in the field of diagnostics and treatment to fight the Covid-19 pandemic and increasing cooperation in the fields of economy, trade and investment, energy and environment, agriculture and food security, science and technology, media, human resource development etc.
1st India- Arab Energy Forum took place virtually from 8th to 9th June 2021 under the joint chairmanship of India and the Kingdom of Morocco. Minister of Power, New and Renewable Energy, GoI, Shri. RK Singh delivered the opening remarks at the Forum.
