Egypt President to be chief guest at Republic Day celebrations
- November 28, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Egypt President to be chief guest at Republic Day celebrations
Subject: International Relations
Context:
- Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi will be the chief guest at the Republic Day in January 2023.
- This is the first time that the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt will be the Chief Guest at our Republic Day.
- The list of last few chief guests:
Reason for the invitation:
- The year 2022 marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Egypt.
- Diplomatic relations between Egypt and India were established with Egypt’s recognition of the independence of India on 18 August 1947, just three days after India’s independence.
- The two nations became even closer in the 1950s and concluded a historic Friendship Treaty in 1955.
- Moreover,Egypt has been invited as a ‘Guest Country’ during India’s Presidency of G20 in 2022-23.
Where is Egypt:
- The Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula.
- It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip of Palestine and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the
- The Gulf of Aqaba in the northeast separates Egypt from Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
- Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt, while Alexandria, the second-largest city,
- It is the world’s 30th-largest country.
India – Egypt Relation:
- Economic Relation:
- The India-Egypt Bilateral Trade Agreement has been in operation since March 1978 and is based on the Most Favoured Nation clause.
- Bilateral trade has expanded rapidly in 2021-22, amounting to26 billion registering a 75% increase compared to FY 2020-21.
- India’s exports to Egypt during this period amounted to US$ 3.74 billion, registering a 65% increase over the same period in FY 2020-21.
- At the same time, Egypt’s exports to India reached US$ 3.52 billion registering an 86% increase.
- During this period, India was the 3rd largest export market for Egypt, 6th largest trading partner and 7th largest exporter to Egypt.
- There are many grant-in-aid projects involving India:
- Pan Africa Tele-medicine and Tele-education project in Alexandria University,
- Solar electrification project in Agaween village
- Vocational Training Centre for textile technology in Shoubra, Cairo.
Defence Relations:
- The first ever IAF-EAF Joint Tactical Air Exercise, Desert Warrior, was held in October 2021.
- The first ever Special Forces exercise “Cyclone 1” between India and Egypt was planned in Jodhpur in January 2022.
- Egypt has shown interest in acquiring arms produced by India, including the Akash missile