Republic Day 2023: India invites Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as chief guest
An invitation as chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 is a signal honour reserved for the country's close allies and partners.
FollowIndia has invited Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as the chief guest for the Republic Day in 2023. This reflects the Centre's continuing focus on the Arab world as it prepares for a year of high-profile diplomatic engagements.
It is reportedly said that a formal invitation was handed over when external affairs minister S Jaishankar met Sisi in Cairo on October 16 during an official visit to Egypt. Egypt is among the nine guest countries invited to the G20 Summit under India's presidency in 2023.
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An invitation as chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 is a signal honour reserved for the country's close allies and partners. With respect to 2021 and 2022 Republic Day, there were no chief guests at the celebrations, largely due to the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Following his meeting with Sisi last month, Jaishankar said in a tweet that he had conveyed the "warm greetings of PM @narendramodi and handed over a personal message". However, both countries are yet to make a formal announcement about the matter.
The 68-year-old general-turned-politician is set to be the first Egyptian leader to be hosted by India for the Republic Day celebrations though the two countries have enjoyed close relations in past decades, especially as founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961.
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Meanwhile, it is reportedly said that defence and security cooperation has emerged as a key pillar of India-Egypt relations in the past few years.
In September this year, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Egyptian counterpart General Mohamed Zaki signed a memorandum of understanding on enhancing defence cooperation across all sectors, and agreed to identify proposals for expanding cooperation between the defence industries of India and Egypt.
Egypt is reportedly eyeing India's home-grown light combat aircraft Tejas for a plan to acquire some 70 jet fighters. Egyptian Air Force chief Mahmoud Foaad Abd El-Gawad visited India in July to scout for defence equipment.
