CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on Sunday bestowed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Egypt’s highest honor as the 2 international locations tightened their partnership.

El-Sissi welcomed Modi on the presidential palace in Cairo with the Order of the Nile, the Egyptian presidency mentioned in an announcement. The leaders signed a declaration elevating Egyptian-Indo ties to a “strategic partnership,” which suggests the 2 nations agreed to accentuate their cooperation and maintain periodic talks, the assertion mentioned.

Egypt and India share deep ties that date again to the Nineteen Fifties, once they performed key roles in founding the Non-Aligned Movement, which had sought an alternate path on the top of the Cold War.

Modi, who arrived in Cairo on Saturday, is the primary Indian prime minister to pay a state go to to Egypt in additional than 20 years. His two-day cease got here six months after el-Sissi was in New Delhi as an official visitor at India’s Independence Day.

Modi additionally invited the Egyptian chief to attend a summit of the Group of 20 main wealthy and creating international locations, which India will host in September.

Following his talks with el-Sissi, Modi visited a historic mosque, Cairo‘s Al-Hakim, which was not too long ago renovated with the assistance of the India-based Dawoodi Bohra group. He additionally paid tribute to Indian troopers who died in World War I and are buried within the Heliopolis War Cemetery in Cairo.

PHOTOS: Egypt's president offers highest honor to visiting Indian prime minister amid bettering ties

Modi’s journey to Egypt has targeted on strengthening bilateral ties. The prime minister mentioned each international locations have been shifting swiftly to extend bilateral commerce to $12 billion yearly inside 5 years - that’s up from $7.3 billion in 2021-22.

“My visit to Egypt was a historic one. It will add renewed vigor to India-Egypt relations and will benefit the people of our nations,” Modi wrote on Twitter.

Earlier this yr, each international locations agreed to spice up commerce cooperation. India, the world’s most populous nation, is likely one of the high 5 importers of Egyptian merchandise, together with crude oil and liquefied pure fuel, salt, cotton, inorganic chemical compounds, and oilseeds. Major Indian exports to Egypt embrace cotton yarn, espresso, herbs, tobacco, lentils, automobile components, ships, boats, and electrical equipment.

El-Sissi and Modi, who got here to energy of their counties in 2014, have lately cultivated nearer relationship. And over the past 16 months, they resisted stress type the West to sentence the Russian struggle in Ukraine. Both Egypt and India have decades-old ties with the Kremlin.

“There is a change in the global geopolitical and geoeconomic atmosphere wherein both countries wish to play a defining role,” India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh mentioned throughout a go to to Cairo in September. “Egypt’s geostrategic location acts as a connecting link between Africa, West Asia, the Mediterranean, and Europe and is also an important country from the Indo-Pacific point of view.”

Modi arrived from the United States, the place he held talks with President Joe Biden and high administration officers, addressed the Congress and met with high American executives.

His assembly with el-Sissi got here as international consideration targeted on a quick riot by the pinnacle of Wagner Group, seen as the best problem to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his greater than 20 years in energy. Neither chief commented on the Russian disaster.

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