Republic Day celebrations: Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in January, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Sunday.
“This is the first time that the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt will be the Chief Guest at our Republic Day,” said a statement from the MEA. Egypt has been invited as a ‘Guest Country’ during India’s Presidency of G-20 in 2022-23, the statement said. “India and Egypt enjoy warm and friendly relations based on civilisational and deep-rooted people-to-people ties,” the statement said.
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Formal invitation sent
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sent a formal invitation to al-Sisi which was delivered to the Egyptian president by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on October 16. During his visit to Egypt, Jaishankar highlighted that many well-reputed Indian companies are coming to invest in the Arab nation.
“Well-reputed Indian companies are coming out to a destination like Egypt, assessing the possibilities here favorably. I think this says a lot about our companies and your credibility as an investment destination. I see a world of possibilities here,” Jaishankar had said.
India and Egypt both are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year.
Visit cancelled due to COVID-19
This year, India had invited leaders of the five Central Asian Republics as chief guests for the Republic Day celebrations. They were to visit Delhi for the India-Central Asia Summit. However, the visit was cancelled due to rising COVID-19 cases in India. The India-Central Asia Summit was held in the virtual format.
India did not invite any foreign leader as the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations in 2021 and 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Former US President Barack Obama (2015), Russian President Vladimir Putin (2007), former French presidents Nicholas Sarkozy (2008) and Francois Hollande (2016) have also been chief guests at the Republic Day celebrations in the past.
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