Raksha Mantri Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman concluded a two-day official bilateral visit to Egypt (20-22 September 2018), at the invitation of the Minister of Defence and Military Production & Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Arab Republic of Egypt.
Raksha Mantri and her counterpart, General Mohamed Ahmed Zaki Mohamed, Minister of Defence and Military Production & Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, noted with satisfaction the steadily growing bilateral defence ties between the two nations. They reviewed ongoing bilateral cooperation activities and discussed potential opportunities to further deepen ties and exchanges in the defence sphere.
The Ministers decided to explore deeper cooperation in the fields of defence industry and R&D, including joint production of defence equipment. Both sides reaffirmed their intent to enhance cooperation in counter-terrorism. Naval cooperation, including cooperation in Maritime Domain Awareness, was identified as an area of potential. India and Egypt would also intensify training interactions between their militaries. The two countries are also working towards holding joint exercises. The two Ministers agreed that technical and expert level delegations in relevant fields would be exchanged to follow up on their discussions.
Smt Sitharaman invited General Mohamed Ahmed Zaki Mohamed to visit India. The invitation was accepted with pleasure.
Raksha Mantri, who was accorded a ceremonial Guard of Honour, also laid wreaths at the memorials of the Unknown Soldier and the tomb of late President Anwar Al Sadat.
Raksha Mantri’s visit to Cairo was reflective of the vision to build a New Partnership for a New Era between India and Egypt as articulated by Prime Minister Modi and President Sisi during the Egyptian President’s State Visit to India in 2016.
