India and Egypt on Thursday reiterated support for the Non-Aligned Movement. In a joint statement issued after the end of bilateral engagements for President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who was the chief guest at the Republic Day parade here, both countries expressed desire for exchange of technology between their defence industries.
“The two countries reaffirmed their commitment to multilateralism, the principles of the United Nations Charter, international law, the founding values of the Non-Aligned Movement, and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states,” they said in the joint statement.
Mr. Sisi arrived here on January 24 and held restricted and delegation-level talks at the Hyderabad House on Wednesday, where he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed bilateral diplomatic relations between India and Egypt. The two countries are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.
India and Egypt agreed to “initiate new engagements to intensify military-to-military engagements” and planned more joint exercises between the armed forces of the two countries. The ties have been on an upswing in the recent past and both delegations supported reform of the UN Security Council, where Egypt was a non-permanent member during 2016-17 and India had a similar stint during 2021-22.
Egypt’s relation with India was also helped by its display of pragmatism especially in the backdrop of the Nupur Sharma controversy of 2022 when Cairo maintained silence while certain Gulf countries were vocal in India’s criticism.
The joint statement expressed support to safeguard cultural principles and said, “The two sides take into consideration the cultural and social sensitivities of all states and, in this regard, they agreed to work together to promote and safeguard these basic principles through regular consultations and coordination at bilateral and multilateral levels.”
The two governments agreed to fight terrorism in all forms, “including cross-border terrorism” and intensify consultation between their respective National Security Councils.
“Prime Minister Modi and President el-Sisi expressed concern over the spread of terrorism across the world and agreed that it poses one of the most serious security threats to humanity. Both leaders condemned the use of terrorism as a foreign policy tool,” read the joint statement, calling for “zero tolerance” towards terrorism.
