India extended an official invitation to the Egyptian president Abdel Fattah Sisi to be the chief guest for the 74th Republic Day Celebrations. Inviting Egypt for the first time signifies the importance India attaches to the country. After UAE, Egypt has become the second Arab country to grace the Republic Day Parade. Modi scripted a new chapter by inviting UAE in 2017 which was accompanied by the participation of the UAE contingent in the Republic Day parade. Emulating the same tradition, a contingent of Egyptian armed marched in the Republic Day parade. As the current President of the G20, India invited Egypt as the guest country for the 2023 G20 summit.
In contravention to the bigoted aspersions cast on the current
dispensation as a nationalist Hindu party, Modi proactively steered the Link
West policy by revitalizing engagement with the Middle East, and moderate Sunni
Muslim countries. Undaunted by the ‘religion card’ ostensibly raked up by
Pakistan, the Modi government consistently stepped-up economic engagement and
trade with Arab countries-Jordan and Saudi Arabia and successfully sealed an
FTA with the UAE. The realisation of the strategic significance of the region
as opposed to the dogmatic perception of the Middle East as a labour market and
source of energy supplies has prompted India’s foreign policy recalibration.
Straddling two continents- Asia and Africa, Egypt is the largest
and the most populous Arab country. It is central to the strategic Red Sea,
Mediterranean Sea, Horn of Africa and Suez Canal theatres and the gateway to
Africa with strong links with the Arab World and the Eastern Mediterranean
countries.
India has crucial interests in Suez Canal as nearly one-fourth,
i.e. $200 billion of India’s global trade passes through it. Having turned into
a conflict zone with the proliferation of terror and militant outfits, the Red
Sea is on verge of becoming a choke point with several countries in the region
steadily establishing bases along the Horn of Africa.
In response to these maritime security challenges and to bolster
its control over the Red Sea, Egypt has expanded the operations of Southern
base-Berenice in 2020, another base in Gargoub region, in the North in 20211
and Eastern Port Said2. Egypt is thus pivotal and capable of
influencing the outcomes on many fronts and can be viable partner in terms of
maritime cooperation for India.
Sisi who came to power in 2014 introduced a slew of economic
reforms in 2016 that significantly stabilized the Egyptian economy. It is
steadily emerging as a key player in West Asia. Clocking a 6.6% growth rate in
the post-pandemic year (2021-22)3, Egypt has been on the path
to economic prosperity. But the surging grain prices post-Ukraine crisis hit
Egypt, a major importer of wheat. While UAE and Saudi Arabia pledged $20
billion and $15 billion investments respectively, India has become a major
source of wheat. Despite the
self-imposed ban on wheat due to a production decline forecast, India exported
61,500 tons of Wheat to Egypt4.
Indeed, a host of global challenges- the Pandemic, the Ukraine
invasion in the recent past have laid bare the chinks in the existing global
order. The great powers failed to be effective guarantors of neither security
nor drivers of development. Multilateralism crumbled. To realize shared
objectives, the regional and middle powers began to stitch new mini-laterals to
address specific and limited issues. This eventually led to the genesis of the
Quad, AUKUS, India-France-UAE.
I2U2 which started off with a meeting of foreign ministers of
India, Israel, UAE and the US in October 2021, quickly transitioned into a
cogent group with the first-ever virtual summit of leaders by July 2022. Keen
on upholding their strategic autonomy, middle powers are shaping a multipolar
world through mini-laterals to actively leverage their strengths for
geopolitical and geoeconomic domains. The inception of I2U2, based on the
Indo-Abrahamic geopolitical framework proposed by strategist Mohammed Soliman5
has uniquely brought together two major countries of West Asia together. This
consolidation soon drew a chorus from strategic corridors in Egypt for
collaboration with India. India’s supply of covid vaccines and Egypt’s shipment
of medical supplies to New Delhi during the peak covid wave and the wheat
export post the Ukraine crisis added fresh impetus to explore and deepen the
bilateral relationship.
Civilisational states India and Egypt had deep-rooted cultural and
trade ties for centuries. Both countries endured freedom struggles and their
fight against British colonialism even brought nations together.
Post-independence leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser laid the
foundation for the Non-Aligned Movement. Together both leaders championed
liberation movements across the world. India-Egypt amiability suffered a
roadblock following a protocol glitch at the 1983 NAM Summit in India. With the
visit to President Hosni Mubarak 25 years later in 2008, the relations returned
to normalcy.
The year 2022, marked 75 years of the establishment of ties
between both countries. Coincidentally the visit of three Indian senior
Ministers to Egypt last year laid the ground for revitalizing India-Egypt ties.
In September 2022, India and Egypt signed MoU on Defence Cooperation for
coproduction, exchange of technology and sharing of best practices during
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Cairo. EAM Jaishankar on his first
visit to Egypt as the foreign minister in October 2022, besides extending
India’s support to Sharm-El-Sheikh COP 27 conference, reviewed ties and
explored opportunities in renewable energy, trade, tourism and connectivity. In
November 2022, Environment Minister Bhupendra Singh attended the COP 27
conference and reaffirmed India’s commitment to climate action.
Additionally, the behemoth challenge posed by the extremist
ideologies during the Arab Spring of 2011 to the region impelled leaders of
Egypt, UAE, and Saudi Arabia to strongly contest radical Islamists and steer
the countries towards an inclusive society. While Turkey and Qatar continue to
support the radical Muslim Brotherhood fronts, moderate Sunni countries are
promoting social reforms. Countering extremist narratives finds resonance with
India, a victim of terrorism and violent Islamist radicalism.
President Sisi arrived in New Delhi on a three-day visit on Jan 24th
accompanied by five ministers and a
high-level delegation. This is Sisi’s third visit to India- in 2015, Sisi
attended the Third Indo-African Forum Summit and in September 2016, he made a
state visit. On his second state visit
Egyptian President held delegation-level and restricted talks with Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.
India-Egyptian bilateral ties have four major pillars- Political
and security cooperation; trade and economic engagement; scientific and
academic collaboration and cultural cooperation.
Defence cooperation is integral to security cooperation.
Reaffirming the need for military-to-military engagement, countries have
encouraged a steady interaction through training, joint military exercises and
high-level visit. Accordingly, countries have commenced the maiden Joint
Exercise of Strategic Forces ‘Exercise Cyclone -1’ currently underway in
Rajasthan. India has invited Egypt to
‘Bright Star’ trilateral joint exercises to be held in September 2023. Indian
Air Force participated in the first ever ‘Joint Tactical Air Exercises’ in
Egypt in 2021 and Egyptian Air Force’s ‘Tactical Leadership Program’ in June
20226.
Counter-terrorism cooperation featured as another aspect of
political and security cooperation. Facing common challenges of terrorism,
countries have called for zero tolerance towards terrorism and condemned the
use of terrorism as foreign policy.
As of 2021, the bilateral trade between both countries is valued
at $7.26 billion, a 75% increase from last year. India is the seventh largest
trade partner of Egypt7. Considering the scope for
diversification of trade, leaders have set a target of $12 billion in bilateral
trade in the next five years. Indian investments in Egypt are over $3.15
billion and in his address to Indian business leaders, Sisi welcomed more
investments and proposed the possibility of allocating land in the Suez Canal
Economic Zone (SCEZ).
Countries agreed to expand cooperation in the field of space,
agriculture, food processing, satellite launching, and joint production of
pharmaceuticals and underscored the need for open, free, stable, accessible,
safe, trusted and accountable cyberspace. Driven by their commitment to climate
action, countries affirmed their resolve to expedite the clean energy
transition and cooperation in renewable energy. Sisi expressed support for
Modi’s ‘Mission LiFE’ while Modi commended Sisi’s ‘Go Green Initiative’. Trade
in the rupee, food, energy and fertiliser security also found a place in the
bilateral agenda.
Countries also exchanged commemorative stamps to mark 75 years of
diplomatic ties and five MoUs. These include- MoU on cybersecurity between the
Indian Computer Emergency Response Team and the Egyptian Computer Emergency
Readiness Team; cooperation in Information Technology; cooperation in Youth
Matters; field of culture and cooperation on Broadcasting between Prasar
Bharati and the National Media Authority of Egypt 8.
In a media statement PM Modi said, “at one side of the Arabian
Sea is India and on the other side is Egypt. Strategic cooperation between the
two countries will help in promoting peace and prosperity in the entire region.
So, in today’s meeting, President Sisi and I decided to elevate our bilateral
partnership to the level of “Strategic Partnership””9.
With this, Egypt has joined the select group of countries with which India
develops a strategic blueprint for greater cooperation.
The US is slowly retracting from West Asia and delegating the
security challenges to the regional powers. The I2U2 is an outcome of that
predicament. To fill this vacuum, besides cementing trade links and
connectivity, China is stretching into the strategic space as well. Given the
impending demographic decline and a slump in the economic growth of China, West
Asia is seeking strategic relations with “less contentious partners”,
with a demographic edge, and huge market potential, Egypt finds India “an
agreeable partner”.
In this context, it would be pertinent to note that strategic
ambiguity has been the cornerstone of Egypt’s foreign policy. Given its
thriving trade links with China, India had to grapple for its space in the
region and especially in Egypt as well. As a moderate and influential voice in
the Islamic World that advocates zero tolerance toward terrorism and commands a
huge impact across four strategic theatres, Egypt can be a potential partner
for India.
Unlike Turkey, which has decided to form a committee on Kashmir
and pass a resolution toeing the Pakistani line10, at the Organisation
of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Egypt hasn’t supported Pakistani policies and
maintained a studied silence on the Nupur Sharma episode. Also, with the
discovery of new gas fields and oil wells in Egypt, it can be a source of
energy and fertilizer supplies to India11. India’s attempts
to potentially diversify its partnership with Egypt can thus, augur well to
pursue its national interests.
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