India, Egypt agree to form strategic partnership focused on terrorism
New Delhi, Jan 25 (EFE).- India and Egypt on Wednesday agreed to boost bilateral ties into a strategic partnership during the state visit of Egyptian President Abdelfateh El-Sisi, in which both countries stressed the need to fight terrorism.
“We will develop a long-term framework of comprehensive cooperation covering political, security, defense, energy and economic areas,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during an event, adding that both countries agreed on taking decisive actions to control cross-border terrorism.
“We are unanimous that terrorism is the most serious security threat to humanity,” said Modi, reiterating a message that New Delhi has often conveyed in international forums in recent months.
El-Sisi underlined that both parties had also held discussions on the energy and tourism sectors.
“We discussed cooperation in Green hydrogen and renewable energy sectors. India and Egypt are old cultural civilizations. The issue of connectivity was also discussed between the two countries in order to boost tourism,” the Egyptian president said in a statement published by leading Indian dailies.
The two leaders signed five memoranda of understanding on issues such as cybersecurity and collaboration in information technology, and agreed to raise bilateral trade to $12 billion over the next few years.
El-Sisi arrived in India on Tuesday for a four-day visit during which he is set to attend India’s annual Republic Day parade as the chief guest.
The Egyptian leader had already visited India in 2016, when he signed agreements with Modi to boost cooperation in security, international and for exploring mechanisms of economic cooperation. EFE
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