Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration, and Egyptian Expatriates, Badr Abdel Aati, and India’s External Affairs Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, kicked off the first round of Strategic Dialogue between the two nations in New Delhi.
Ambassador Tamim Khallaf, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that the commencement of this inaugural strategic dialogue reflects the rapid development in bilateral relations and the shared desire to advance the strategic partnership, which was launched during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Egypt in June 2023.
The dialogue affirms Egypt and India’s commitment to enhancing cooperation and ensuring the delivery of the memoranda of understanding previously agreed across various sectors to achieve common interests.
Both Ministers lauded the development of bilateral relations between Cairo and New Delhi over recent years, particularly in light of the mutual understanding and coordination between the countries’ leaderships.
This year, the two countries are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Egyptian-Indian Friendship Agreement. They expressed their aspiration for further development of bilateral cooperation across all fields to serve the interests of the two friendly peoples.
The strategic dialogue reviewed mechanisms to boost economic, trade, and investment cooperation, support partnerships in technology and innovation, and enhance defense cooperation, especially in joint training and defense industries, as well as security cooperation in combating terrorism and information exchange.
The two Ministers also exchanged views on regional and international political issues of common concern and ways to strengthen South-South cooperation.
Regarding the economic and trade aspects of bilateral relations, Minister Abdel Aati provided an overview of the economic reforms implemented by the Egyptian government since 2016, including the adoption of a prudent monetary policy and the execution of a flexible exchange rate system.
These reforms have had a positive impact on improving the performance of the Egyptian economy and raising its credit rating, which has helped create an attractive investment climate.
Discussions addressed cooperation opportunities in localizing industries related to the green transition, such as the manufacture of solar panels, wind turbines, and electrolyzes used in green hydrogen production. The textiles and ready-made garments sector were also highlighted, where many Indian companies are showing increasing interest in investing.
Minister Abdel Aati urged Indian companies to invest in Egypt to meet the needs of the local market and export abroad, particularly through the Suez Canal Economic Zone, which offers multiple investment incentives and tax and customs exemptions for companies operating there.
For his part, the Indian Minister commended the remarkable development in bilateral relations between the two countries, stressing keenness to work on developing relations across all political, economic, and commercial fields to meet the aspirations of the two friendly peoples.
Minister Abdel Aati also met with Sanjay Nagrare, Chairman of Ocior Energy, in New Delhi. The minister stressed the importance of boosting cooperation with foreign firms to attract greater investment into Egypt, particularly within the field of green hydrogen and its derivatives. He highlighted Egypt’s national green hydrogen strategy, which was announced in August 2024.
The minister also outlined current efforts to position Egypt as a central hub for green hydrogen production. He referenced the launch of the Global Renewable Hydrogen Forum by Egypt and Belgium on the sidelines of COP27 in 2022.
This forum is intended to serve as a platform for stakeholders, facilitating the production and use of renewable hydrogen and, in turn, helping to reduce carbon emissions.
Source: The Egyptian Gazette
