PM Modi arrives in Egypt for first bilateral visit, receives a warm welcome from Mostafa Madbouly

Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Cairo on Saturday, June 24, for his first bilateral visit to Egypt. He was received at the airport by Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.

This is the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Egypt in 26 years. Modi will meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Sunday.

Modi is scheduled to hold talks with Madbouly on a range of issues, including trade, investment, and security cooperation. He will also meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

The visit is seen as an attempt by India to strengthen its ties with Egypt, a key regional player in the Middle East. India is looking to expand its trade and investment ties with Egypt, and the visit is also seen as an opportunity to discuss ways to boost cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

Modi's visit to Egypt comes after his successful visit to the United States, where he met with President Joe Biden and other top US officials. The visit to Egypt is part of Modi's efforts to strengthen India's ties with its partners in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, India's ambassador said that the country's multi-faceted relations with Egypt, which was elevated to a strategic partnership this year, will receive further impetus with the first state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to this key Middle East nation.

"We are very much looking forward to the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Cairo from 24th to 25th of June. The visit is a very historic occasion because the last bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister was as far back as 1997," Ajit Gupte, India's Ambassador to Egypt, to PTI in an interview.

Modi will hold talks with El-Sisi on Sunday to discuss ways to give further impetus to the strategic partnership between the two major nations.

"I am excited to pay a state visit to a close and friendly country for the first time," Modi said in his departure statement in New Delhi on Tuesday before leaving for the United States on his maiden state visit.

"We had the pleasure of receiving President Sisi as the Chief Guest at our Republic Day celebrations this year," he noted.

During his stay here, the prime minister will also be visiting the Heliopolis War Memorial. This is a memorial which has been erected by the Commonwealth but it is a memorial for 3,799 Indian soldiers who laid down their lives in various battles in Egypt during the First World War. They were essentially defending Egypt from attacks from the Ottoman forces, he said.

He will also visit the 11th Century Al-Hakim mosque, restored with the help of the Dawoodi Bohra community.

The mosque was built during the Fatimid dynasty. The Bora community in India actually originated from the Fatima dynasty and they have renovated the mosque from the 1970s onwards.

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