‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ is a unique element of Indian culture and even in official corners, India strives to maintain that. Going by this culture India has a tradition of inviting foreign Heads of Nation as Chief Guests to attend our national festival of Republic Day every year. Keeping with tradition this year India has invited the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, to be the chief guest on Republic Day in 2023.
According to the sources, the President of Egypt and the Indian Minister of External Affairs met on October 16 in Cairo and exchanged the official invitation. One of the nine guest countries at the G20 Summit in 2023, which will be hosted by India, is Egypt.
A chief guest invitation for the Republic Day festivities on January 26 is a significant honor reserved for the nation's close allies and partners. The Covid-19 pandemic caused significant disruptions in 2021 and 2022, which is why there were no chief guests at the festivities. Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was the final head guest to arrive for the 2020 celebrations.
During his meeting with Sisi, Jaishankar tweeted last month that he had given "warm greetings from PM @narendramodi and handed over a personal message" Neither nation has yet made a formal announcement regarding the issue.
The 68-year-old general-turned-politician is expected to be the first Egyptian leader to be hosted by India for the Republic Day celebrations, even though India and Egypt have historically cultivated close ties—particularly given that both nations were founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961—they are currently at odds.
Talmiz Ahmad, a former Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, said that Egypt's recovery from a serious economic crisis, its independent foreign policy, and its expanding role in Africa appeared to have prompted the invitation to Sisi. He stated that this is a step toward reestablishing a traditional relationship that is very important and has been weakened over the past 20 years.
When India's attention shifted to the Gulf nations due to interests like energy, trade, investments, and the presence of millions of expatriates, Ahmad said, Egypt faced serious domestic political issues like the Arab Spring protests and a severe economic crisis.
"However, Egypt now appears to have recovered and has begun to assert its role over the last three to four years. It has also taken significant initiatives that are independent of the Gulf countries, such as its stance on Syria, Yemen, and Turkey. He added that Egypt has opened channels of communication with Iran and improved ties with Iraq.
Defense and security cooperation has grown to be a crucial tenet of India-Egypt relations in recent years. Between September 19 and 20, Rajnath Singh traveled to Cairo and met Sisi.
In a memorandum of understanding on enhancing defense cooperation across all sectors, General Mohamed Zaki and Singh of Egypt agreed to identify proposals for enhancing collaboration between their countries' defense industries. In addition, the two sides decided to intensify their exchanges of military personnel and joint training exercises, particularly for counterinsurgency training.
Egypt is reportedly considering purchasing 70 jet fighters and the domestic Indian Tejas light combat aircraft. In July, Egyptian Air Force Commander Mahmoud Fouad Abd El-Gawad went to India to look for military equipment. Following that, the first joint air force exercise took place in October 2021.
As a bridge connecting Africa and West Asia, which New Delhi refers to as being in its extended neighborhood, Egypt serves a strategic role for India. Historically, one of Africa's most important trading partners, India was Egypt's eighth-largest trading partner in 2020–21.
Bilateral trade peaked at $5.45 billion in 2012–13 before falling to $3.23 billion in 2016–17 as a result of the general economic slowdown and decline in oil prices. Trade increased once more positively between 2017 and 2018, reaching $4.15 billion between 2020 and 21.
