India’s ties with Egypt

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, has been invited as the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations this year for the first time.

India-Egypt Relations:

• In the past, commercial connections between Egypt and India grew along the banks of the rivers Nile and Indus, which is when India's interactions with Egypt first developed.
• Under Nehru's direction: Jawaharlal Nehru of India and Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt co-founded the Non-Aligned Movement in 1955.
• Nehru stood up for Egypt during the 1956 Warto the point of threatening to expel his nation from the British Commonwealth.
• Bilateral relations and the Friendship Treaty: The two countries grew further closer in the 1950s and signed the Friendship Treaty in 1955.
• The historically strong bilateral ties between the two nations have recently gotten a boost from the regular interchange of high-level meetings and contacts between the two sides.

Trade & Commerce:

• Egypt has long been among India's top trading partners on the continent of Africa.
• The Most Favoured Nationprovision is the foundation of the bilateral trade agreement between Egypt and India, which has been in effect since March 1978.
• Raw cotton, made and unmanufactured fertilizers, oil and oil products, organic and inorganic chemicals, leather, and iron goods are among Egypt's main exports to India.
• Sesame, lentils, coffee, herbs, and cotton yarn are among the top Indian exports to Egypt.
• India also exports mineral gasoline, car components, ship, boat, and floating construction parts, frozen slices of boneless beef, and electrical machinery and components.
• India is widely represented in practically all fields in Egypt.

Technical and scientific fields:

• In accordance with the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme, Egyptian applicants visit India (ITEC).
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)for cooperation in the field of agricultural research was signed in 1998 by the ICAR and the Agricultural Research Center of the Ministry of Agriculture & Land of Egypt.

Cultural ties:

• In 1992, Cairo saw the establishment of the Maulana Azad Center for Indian Culture (MACIC).
• By implementing the Cultural Exchange Program, seeks to foster cultural collaboration between the two nations (CEP).
• In addition to teaching Hindi, Urdu, and yoga, displaying films, and promoting Indian culture, the Centre also hosts cultural events.
• The "India by the Nile" festivalis a yearly cultural event in Egypt.
• In a language that combines various cultural and artistic threads, it captures the spirit of India through classical, contemporary, performing, and visual arts, gastronomy, and popular culture.
• The event is organized by M/S Teamwork Arts, a Delhi-based company, with funding provided by ICCR and the Ministry of Culture of Egypt.

The defence alliance:

• With recent events like the Indian Navy ship's trip to Egypt, a month-long air force drill, and the leader of the Egyptian air force's trip to India, it is being revitalized.

Establishment:

• The Non-Aligned Movement was formally founded in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1961, building on the tenets outlined at the Bandung Conference of 1955.

Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence:

• Zhou Enlai and Nehru outlined the Panchsheel, or Five Principles, as a framework for Sino-Indian relations (five restraints).
• The Non-Aligned Movement would later be founded on these ideas.

The five principles are:

• Mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
• Mutual non-aggression.
• Mutual non-interference in domestic affairs.
• Equality and mutual benefit.
• Peaceful co-existence.