Egypt and India raise the level of relations to the "strategic partnership"

Both Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have called for raising the level of relations between the two countries to a "strategic partnership" in various sectors in order to maximize common interests amid current global challenges.

In a joint statement published by the Egyptian presidency, the two countries said that "the two leaders decided to elevate their relations to the level of a strategic partnership that covers the political, economic, security, defense and energy fields."

The statement added that the aim is to "maximize common interests and enhance mutual support to overcome the difficulties resulting from the various successive crises and challenges facing the world."

The statement was issued at the end of Sisi's visit to India, his second to this country.

The visit began on Tuesday and ended on Thursday.

The two countries are seeking, according to the statement, to increase the volume of trade exchange between them to $12 billion, compared to $7.26 billion at the present time, although Sisi and Modi have expressed their "satisfaction with the current level of bilateral trade."

India ranks seventh among the trading partners of Egypt, the most populous Arab country with 104 million people.

In terms of investments, the Egyptian side is studying, according to the statement, "the possibility of allocating a special land area for Indian industries in the Suez Canal economic zone," in order to enhance the current value of India's investments in Egypt, which amounts to $3.15 billion.

For his part, the Indian Prime Minister called on the Egyptian President to "participate as a guest" in the G20 summit meetings to be held in India in September.

According to the statement, Modi and Sisi agreed that "the interests and priorities of the global south" should receive attention and focus.

Egypt is seeking to diversify its trade partners, in light of the difficult economic crisis the country is witnessing, led by the shortage of foreign currency and the high rate of inflation after the Central Bank of Egypt devalued the local currency against the US dollar, which currently stands at about 30 pounds, compared to 15.6 in March 2022.

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