El-Sisi in New Delhi for Republic Day: Significance of his visit, and India’s ties with Egypt

An invitation to be the Republic Day chief guest is highly symbolic from the Indian government's perspective. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is the first Egyptian President to get the invite.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations this year, landed in India on Tuesday (January 24). This is the first time that an Egyptian President has been invited as chief guest for the event.

What is El-Sisi’s schedule in India?

Sisi will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 25, and President Droupadi Murmu will host a State Banquet in his honour the same evening.

Sisi will have a meeting and delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will also call on President Sisi. The visiting dignitary will interact with the Indian business community at an event on the same day, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

Also Read |El-Sisi to meet PM Modi, President Murmu today; six agreements being finalised

What is the significance of a Republic Day invite?

An invitation to be the Republic Day chief guest is highly symbolic from the Indian government’s perspective. New Delhi has been weaving strategy with hospitality to decide its chief guest for the Republic Day. The choice of chief guest every year is dictated by a number of reasons — strategic and diplomatic, business interests, and international geo-politics.

What is the history of India-Egypt relations?

India and Egypt share close political understanding based on a long history of cooperation in bilateral, regional and global issues. The joint announcement of establishment of diplomatic relations at the Ambassadorial level was made on August 18, 1947.

India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser signed the Friendship Treaty between the two countries, and they were key to forming the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) along with Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito.

Since the 1980s, there have been four Prime Ministerial visits from India to Egypt: Rajiv Gandhi (1985); P V Narasimha Rao (1995); IK Gujral (1997); and Dr. Manmohan Singh (2009, NAM Summit).

What were the recent engagements?

PM Modi held a phone conversation with Sisi on April 17, 2020 to discuss efforts to halt the spread of the coronavirus, and again on April 26, 2020 to exchange Eid-ul-Fitr greetings. The PM expressed appreciation for the support extended by Egyptian authorities for the safety and welfare of Indian nationals in Egypt during the Covid crisis.

President Sisi expressed sympathy and solidarity with India during the second wave of Covid-19, on April 30, 2021. Egypt dispatched three planes with medical supplies to India on May 9, 2021. In addition, the Embassy of India also signed an agreement to procure 300,000 doses of REMDESEVIR from M/s EVA Pharma, Egypt, which were provided well before schedule.

A military contingent from the Egyptian Army will participate in the Republic Day parade.

The two countries will also look at the education sector, where Indian higher educational institutions can set up campuses in Egypt: a proposal for establishing an IIT in Egypt is in the works.

Is there a political significance of Sisi’s visit?

An invitation to the Egyptian President is being considered significant, especially when India’s ties with Muslim-majority countries were tested due to controversial remarks made by BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma in June last year. That Egypt was one of the few countries from the Arab world which did not react officially to the remarks was not lost on New Delhi.