Finance
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to Egypt last week may have been overshadowed by his historic state visit to the United States, but the Indian leader personally initialed the bilateral “Strategic Partnership” document with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, opening a new chapter with the Arab world. This was India’s first bilateral visit since then-Prime Minister I K Gujral in 1997.
While the public focus was on bilateral economic cooperation and Global South cooperation, India’s main goal was to reach out to Egypt, which is still the Arab League’s headquarters and is regarded as the Arab World’s leader. The visit occurred during a period of ongoing conflict between Sunni Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Shia Iran and Türkiye, legatee of the Ottoman Empire, over the leadership of the Islamic world.
Although Prime Minister Modi has visited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Iran, with Turkish President Recep Erdogan visiting India, the outreach to Egypt, the cradle of Islamic learning, was intended to fill a critical vacuum. When it comes to combating religious radicalism, both India and Egypt are on the same page, with President Sisi demonstrating his determination against the Muslim Brotherhood and its extreme affiliates throughout the Middle East. Although Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have banned the Muslim Brotherhood and branded its affiliates as terrorist organizations, countries such as Qatar, Kuwait, and even Shia Iran enjoy a cozy relationship with this pan-Islamic network.
President Sisi has stated publicly that the Muslim Brotherhood has been consuming Egypt’s intellect and body for the past 90 years. He claimed that organisations like the Brotherhood gnawed at the state and fostered a culture of doubt and suspicion, and he advised against allowing countries to be destroyed from inside, resulting in millions of migrants and generations of extremists, as well as wreaking enormous havoc on the area for decades. Egypt has moved toward moderation under President Sisi’s leadership, without abandoning its basic Islamic foundations or historical civilization culture.
With President Sisi being named the Chief Guest at the 2023 Republic Day parade, and his visit to India in September as a special invitee for the G-20 conference in New Delhi, Prime Minister Modi has signaled an intensification and renewal of the bilateral relationship. Indian engagement with the African continent may rise in the coming days.
Source:HT
