Cairo: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry here on Saturday and the two leaders discussed a range of issues including the Ukraine conflict and the Indo-Pacific and exchanged views on boosting bilateral ties and how to create a more resilient global economy. Jaishankar is in Egypt on a two-day visit at the invitation of his Egyptian counterpart Shoukry.
A warm and productive meeting with FM Sameh Shoukry of Egypt. Reflected our deep-rooted ties as we mark 75 years of diplomatic relations this year, he said in a tweet. As states active in shaping global debates, discussed developments in our regions and exchanged views on the Ukraine conflict and Indo-Pacific. A polarised world needs independent thinking and voices of reason, he said in another tweet.
Jaishankar said India and Egypt's cooperation in multilateral forums remains robust and welcomed Egyptian participation in G20 next year and in BRICS New Development Bank and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Our political cooperation has historically been strong. We have a number of institutions. Some of them have been meeting regularly, and some of them are due to meet.
We hope to do a meeting of our counterterrorism working group as well. But overall, we've always had good political understanding and certainly today's meeting and discussions I think have enhanced it, Jaishankar said in his opening remarks at the press conference with his Egyptian counterpart. He said the two countries in recent times have stepped up their defence and security cooperation and there have been discussions on how to collaborate more closely on the defence side, especially in defence production.
Trade and commerce have again seen a very big increase. Last year was our highest-ever trade - in excess of 7.2 billion dollars. It was a big jump. Today, we reviewed that. We agreed that there were possibilities for still further growth. That both of us must work to address Market Access issues that we might have respectively, Jaishankar said. Investment has also been very positive.
Indian companies today have a recorded investment of more than 3 billion dollars and we have again close to about a billion dollars in the pipeline. And we see a lot of new possibilities. I shared with the Minister some of what we are picking up from industry, new possibilities here, particularly in renewable energy. So, we are again very optimistic on that score, he said. The two ministers also discussed ways to increase air connectivity and tourism.