International Desk, 19 June: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the 11th-century Al-Hakim mosque during his first tour to Egypt, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra announced on Monday.
Prime Minister will honour the Indian soldiers who lost their lives during the First World War during his maiden visit. The Foreign Secretary made this announcement during a special briefing on the Prime Minister’s impending trip to the US and Egypt.
On June 24 and 25, Prime Minister Modi will pay a state visit to Egypt.
Kwatra said, “It is worth mentioning here that this will be Prime Minister’s first visit to Egypt and I might also mention that this would be the first official bilateral visit of the Indian Prime Minister to Egypt since 1997.”
He added that there have been visits in between, but they have mostly been for multilateral or plurilateral events.
Prime Minister will first meet with the India unit, a select group of senior ministers that the President of Egypt had formed after his return on June 24 when he arrives in Cairo from India.
“Most recently, the Egyptian president had paid a state visit to India when he graced our Republic Day earlier in the year as the chief guest. At this stage, the prime Minister is expected to reach Cairo in the afternoon of June 24 where where his first interaction will be with the India unit,” the Foreign Secretary said.
He added that since the president of Egypt visited India a few months ago, there have been frequent political discussions between Egypt and India at the cabinet level.
“External Affairs Minister himself, the Defence Minister and the Minister of Environment have travelled to Egypt. We have had, similarly at least three to four ministers from the Egyptian government who have visited India,” he said.
“Even as we speak a ministerial-level delegation led by the chairperson of the Suisse Canal Authority is in India clearly shows you the extent of very sharp focus that both India and Egypt are placing on strengthening all aspects of their relationship,” the Foreign Secretary added.