Indian Prime Minister (PM) has visited Egypt for the first time since 1997 to discuss bilateral relations between India and Egypt.The Government of Egypt bestowed the highest honor of the land — the Order of the Nile — on the PM. Instituted in 1915, the ‘Order of the Nile’ is conferred upon heads of states, crown princes, and vice presidents who offer Egypt or humanity invaluable services. The visit marked the signing of a strategic partnership agreement between India and Egypt, which is a significant milestone in the bilateral relationship between the two countries.
The strategic partnership will have broadly four elements
- Political
- Defense and Security
- Economic engagement
- Scientific and academic collaboration.
- Cultural and people-to-people contact
India-Egypt Relations
- The history of contact between India and Egypt, two of the world’s oldest civilizations, can be traced back to at least the time of Emperor Ashoka.
- Ashoka’s edicts refer to his relations with Egypt under Ptolemy-II.
- In modern times, Mahatma Gandhi and the Egyptian revolutionary Saad Zaghloul shared the common goal of independence from British colonial rule.
- The joint announcement of establishment of diplomatic relations at Ambassadorial level was made on 18th August 1947.
- India and Egypt signed a friendship treaty in 1955. In 1961, India and Egypt along with Yugoslavia, Indonesia and Ghana established the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
- In 2016, the joint statement between India and Egypt identified political-security cooperation, economic engagement and scientific collaboration, and cultural and people-people ties as the basis of a new partnership for a new era.