New Delhi: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El will be the Chief Guest on Republic Day 2023, a senior official from the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed on Saturday. The President who is likely to arrive on January 24 will come along with a 180-member military contingent from Egypt.
This is for the first time the Egyptian President will become the chief guest on Republic Day marking a significant development in the bilateral relationship between India and Egypt. The President will be greeted by Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh. The next day, on January 25, the Egyptian President will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a press statement will be made by the two leaders. The visiting President will also meet Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar and attend a banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu.
El-Sisi who will be the fifth Asian Leader to become the chief guest on Republic Day has visited the country thrice before. Last year, India had invited leaders of the five Central Asian Republics, who were to visit Delhi for the India-Central Asia Summit, as chief guests for the Republic Day celebrations. However, the visit was cancelled due to the rise in COVID-19 cases.
President El-Sisi’s visit to India is a very significant step in developing bilateral relations between India and Egypt for several reasons. The Egyptian President’s coming to India is indicative enough because this South-East Asian nation has never supported Pakistan in forums like OIC or Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Egypt.
The two leaders had also spoken over the phone in 2020. Apart from this, Egypt has been invited as a guest country for the G20 summit that will be held in India later this year. In terms of defence cooperation, the two countries have robust military cooperation. When it comes to the exercises, IAF or the Indian Air Force participated in the first-ever joint exercise in Egypt. The visit will definitely boost the bilateral relation between the two countries.
El-Sisi, a former General and Commander of the Egyptian Armed Forces, rose to power in the tumultuous years after the Arab Spring, a series of protests that swept the Middle-East. Egypt itself was rocked by turmoil that brought down long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak. The political instability that followed Mubarak’s downfall saw al-Sisi surpass more senior officers in the Egyptian military and become Commander-in-Chief and Minister for Defence. In 2013, he played a key role in bringing down the hapless administration of Mohammed Morsi before formally taking charge as President in 2014.
