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Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the President of Egypt, was India’s chief guest on the 74th Republic Day. Egypt was a household name with Indians in the late 1950s when three prominent leaders of the time, Nehru the Indian, Marshall Tito of Yugoslavia, and Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser led Hussein from Egypt, Non-Aligned Movement which aims to provide the third forum for developing countries in the world in the aftermath of World War II.
Although there was a kind of stalemate when the main players of the Non-Aligned Movement left the world, and interaction remained suspended, India and Egypt did not lose sight of what was happening on the chessboard in international relations and how they viewed the changing strategies.
As a chief guest on the 74th Republic Day this year, President El-Sisi headed a high-level delegation that included the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Electricity and Renewable Energy, Planning and Economic Development, and Communications and Information Technology.
They interacted with the Indian business community in New Delhi and identified the incentives offered by his government to investors in the Suez Canal Economic Zone in Egypt.
President Sisi’s first visit to India opened up new and broad horizons for the multifaceted relations between India and Egypt. This is the opportunity that India and Egypt want to seize and translate into practice.
What are the features of the new relationship, and how can it be made practical and lead to the greater interests of the two countries and the region? These matters brought Prime Minister Modi to Egypt to talk with President Sisi and his team of ministers and experts.
The Indian-Egyptian partnership will be raised to a strategic level that means greater cooperation in the political, security, economic and scientific fields. The strategic cooperation aims to promote peace and prosperity in the entire region. Egypt stands at the crossroads of three continents and is therefore an essential gateway for trade and investment.
In the words of Gateway House (February 2, 2023), “the (Egyptian) diplomatic presence in the Arab world and Africa, coupled with the presence of the largest standing army in Africa, makes it a pivotal player for India as a country trying to increase its footprint in West Asia and Africa.”
The new partnership also shares many global concerns that they want to address in unison. During Sisi’s recent visit, both sides attached importance to reforming the UN Security Council to expand membership to enhance representation of developing countries.
As chair of the G20, India invited Egypt as a guest country to its various sessions to take advantage of Egypt’s privileged location in the southern hemisphere to help generate broad consensus in restructuring the new world order.
In the context of highlighting the importance of the Global South, issues of sustainable development and climate change may be addressed to food security and energy security.
During Defense Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Cairo in September 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two countries in which the two sides agreed on further sharing of technology and best practices along with the need for co-production under Egypt’s Joint Defense Cooperation (JDC).
Aware of the threat to peace and development, both sides stressed the need for a comprehensive approach to combating terrorism and violent extremism. There was an agreement to hold bilateral meetings of the counter-terrorism working group to exchange information and enhance interaction between the national security councils of each.
Bilateral trade between India and Egypt was low, although in 2021-22 it was the highest ever at $7.26 billion. If we take into account the size of the two countries, it should have been much larger. The goal now is to expand trade to $12 billion in the next five years, build home production capacities, boost exports, and strengthen existing pharmaceutical and food supplies.
There are important links to Indian companies. China has already established a 7.34-square-kilometre (3 sq mi) industrial zone near the Suez Canal known as Teda City (the Sino-Egyptian Economic and Trade Enterprise Suez Zone) as part of its Belt and Road Initiative.
That is why Sisi urged major Indian companies such as Birla Group, Kirloskar, Dabur India, Godrej, Mahindra, etc., which do business in Egypt, to strengthen their presence and look for specialized Indian companies Adani Group and Renew Power for investment in Egypt.
A direct flight from New Delhi to Cairo and other points is also being considered, subject to mutual agreement. It will promote exchange of students and academics and increase cooperation between universities in Egypt and higher education institutions in India.
defense cooperation
Finally, a new area of cooperation between the two countries is their cooperation in defense capabilities. India is No. 4, and Egypt is No. 14 on the Global Fire Power index. During Rajnath Singh’s visit to Cairo in September 2022, the two countries agreed to further share technology and best practices along with the need for co-production within the framework of joint defense cooperation in Egypt.
Egypt is interested in expanding its domestic manufacturing and obtaining assistance from India’s technology in the production of missiles, early warning system, and combat aircraft. Joint exercises will be increased to allow the two sides to exchange experiences and build capabilities in combating traditional and non-traditional security threats.
All this shows that Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Egypt on his way back from Washington holds great importance for India in the areas of trade, regional peace and stability, combating terrorism and cybercrime, and above all, cooperation in defense production.
Indian sources said that there are countries that are strongly interested in the local light fighter Tejas. Among these countries, which have previously inspected the fighter, are Egypt, Singapore and Malaysia. Egypt wants the Indian plane with technology transfer.
The Indian company HAL has set the price of the fighter at $ 40 million per platform.
The Tejas-LIFT (lead in fighter trainer) version is a two-seat version intended for advanced training of pilots and also used as a light fighter.
The Egyptian Air Force is looking for an alternative to its French-made Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet training fighters and has put Tejas-LIFT as one of the options.
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