India’s friend Egypt, on whose objection Pakistan’s proposal was not passed
Egyptian President Abdul-Fattah-al-Sisi has reached Delhi to participate in India’s 74th Republic Day celebrations. This is the first time that the President of Egypt will attend the ceremony as the chief guest.
This is the third visit of President al-Sisi to India. On this occasion, a contingent of the Egyptian Army will also participate in the Republic Day parade. Al-Sisi’s visit to India is considered important for the relations between the two countries.
In a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the visit of the President of Egypt to India as ‘historic’.
India’s Prime Minister’s Office tweeted about the meeting between PM Modi and President al-Sisi, “The meeting agreed to further strengthen cooperation between our defense industries and enhance exchange of counter-terrorism information and intelligence.” has also decided.”
This visit of the President of Egypt is taking place at a time when India and Egypt have completed 75 years of diplomatic relations. India has also invited Egypt as a ‘guest country’ during the presidency of the G-20.
According to Mohammad Mudassir Qamar, associate fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, this is an important visit given the importance of Egypt in West Asia and the Arab world and India’s growing ties with West Asia countries.
Egypt is the largest Arab country and has played a central role in the politics of the Middle East.
Professor Mujibur Rahman at the Center for Arabic and African Studies at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University says, “Egypt is a very good friend of India in the Arab world. The reason for this is that Egypt is seen as a leader in the entire Arab world. .”
While Kamal Abdul Nasser played a leading role in Arab nationalism and the Non-Aligned Movement in the 1950s, his successor, Anwar Sadat, talked of peace with Israel and better relations with the West.
Abdul Fatah al-Sisi became president in May 2014. He has come to India at a time when the Egyptian economy is facing difficult challenges.
In the year 2021-22, there was a trade of $ 7.26 billion between India and Egypt and more than 50 Indian companies have invested more than three billion dollars in various sectors of Egypt.
Ups and downs in India-Egypt relations
Good relations between India and Egypt started because of the Non-Aligned Movement when the command in Egypt was in the hands of President Gamal Abdul Nasser and Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister in India. It is believed that the personal chemistry between the two leaders was very good.
The sixties was the era of the Cold War.
Former Indian ambassador to Egypt Navdeep Suri writes in an article, “The two countries were so close at the political level that India secretly sent military supplies to Egypt during the Suez Crisis of 1956. Nuclear cooperation and a joint The fighter project was also contemplated. It was a time when the names of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore were household names. Their books were translated into Arabic by important figures of Arab literature.”
The Suez Canal Crisis means the period when Egyptian President Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal Company. After which Britain and France had sent their forces in the area.
According to Professor Pushpa Adhikari, an expert in international affairs at Nepal’s Tribhuvan University, after the departure of Anwar al-Sadat, the relations between India and Egypt decreased slightly, and the reason for this was the different ways of working of Indira Gandhi and Sadat.
He says, “Jamal Abdul Nasser was a nationalist leader. He nationalized the Suez Municipal Company. Due to this all the western countries got angry with him. Sadat started balancing it.”
Hosni Mubarak came to power in Egypt after Sadat’s assassination. At the same time, in the year 1983, there was a conference of the Non-Aligned Movement in Delhi where, according to Professor Pushp Adhikari, “there was some personality problem” between Indira Gandhi and Hosni Mubarak.
Navdeep Suri, citing diplomatic folklore, says that during the New Delhi Non-Aligned Movement meeting in 1983, it seemed that a small protocol lapse regarding the seating arrangement was taken as a personal insult. Mubarak did not come to India for the next 25 years. He finally came to India in November 2008.
According to Professor Pushp Adhikari, as long as Hosni Mubarak was in power, Egypt’s relations with India were almost severed.
In 2011, Mubarak had to relinquish power in the country when a large number of protesters took to the streets.
need of both countries
But times have changed and now the relations between the two countries have improved a lot.
Mohammad Mudassir Qamar says, “In the last three-four years, there has been a lot of improvement in the relations between India and Egypt, both have come very close. When al-Sisi came to India in 2013, there was a change in the foreign policy of Egypt. His efforts Countries with which Egypt had good relations before, should be extended again, especially for economic reasons.”
Egypt and India both need each other.
During the wave of Kovid-19 in 2021, Egypt sent oxygen cylinders, concentrators and Remdesivir medicines to India. Similarly, when needed, India had sent 61,500 tonnes of wheat to Egypt in May 2022.
Recently an Indian company signed an agreement to set up a green hydrogen plant in Egypt. In this way, the company will invest a total investment of eight billion dollars there.
According to Professor Pushp Adhikari, where Egypt needs India in the fields of education, IT, defense etc., Egypt can become a way for India to invest in Africa because Egypt is very strong in the politics of West Asia and Africa.
He says, “The condition of education in Egypt is very bad. They want help from India. Egypt is still a strong military force in North Africa and West Asia. Then, the kind of development that is happening in Israel, Egypt is equal to that. Is unable to do so. That’s why Egypt needs military help as well. Egypt wants a lot from India in the defense sector.”
“There was a conference of Islamic countries two-three months ago. Pakistan had brought a resolution against India in it. It could not be passed because of strong objection from Egypt. In this way, Egypt is showing a goodwill gesture towards India.”
In 2022, India had to face the displeasure of Islamic countries after the remarks of BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma about Mohammad Prophet. Many Arab countries also expressed dissatisfaction on this matter, but Egypt did not make any comment during this period.
Pakistan brought a proposal in the OIC regarding this issue, but due to Al-Sisi not supporting it, this proposal could not be passed.
