President of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi arrived here this evening on a three-day visit to India as the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations.
Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh and senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs received President Sisi and his delegation at the airport.
”This visit will further deepen the long-standing friendship” between India and Egypt, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted while posting a few pictures of the brief ceremony held at the airport to welcome the visiting dignitary.
President Sisi is accompanied by a high-level delegation, including five ministers and senior officials. This is the first time that the President of Egypt has been invited as chief guest on India’s Republic Day. A military contingent from the Egyptian Army will also participate in the Republic Day parade.
The Egyptian president previously visited India in October 2015 to participate in the third India-Africa Forum Summit and in September 2016 on a state visit. India and Egypt are celebrating 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations this year. Egypt has also been invited as a ‘Guest Country’ during India’s Presidency of G-20 in 2022-23.
President Sisi will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan tomorrow. President Droupadi Murmu will host a state banquet in honour of the visiting dignitary in the evening.
He will have a bilateral 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 also interact with the Indian business community.
India and Egypt enjoy warm and friendly relations marked by civilisational, cultural, and economic linkages and deep-rooted people-to-people ties. The two countries work closely at multilateral and international platforms. Bilateral trade between India and Egypt achieved a record high of 7.26 billion dollars in 2021-22.