The scions of ruling political families in India and Egypt -- Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Egyptian President's son Gamal Mubarak - met on Thursday and had some serious talk over how to enhance bilateral cooperation.
The two leaders also reviewed the situation in the Middle East and
South Asia.
39-year-old AICC general secretary Rahul, on a visit to Egypt also deliberated on issues of social development and programmes for alleviating poverty.
Gamal(46), who is widely tipped to succeed his father, is the Assistant Secretary General and Policies Secretary in the Egyptian National Democratic Party (NDP).
Ways to enhance Indo-Egyptian ties and mitigating the fallout of the global economic crisis, especially in developing states, came up during the meeting that was also attended by Finance Minister Youssif Boutros Ghali, sources said.
The two leaders discussed programmes on realising social development and combating poverty, as well as efforts being exerted in education and on human development scores in the two countries.
They also reviewed the situation in the Middle East and South Asia and deliberated on ways to achieve peace and stability in the two regions.
Rahul is visiting Egypt at the invitation of the NDP, which held its annual conference from October 31 to November 2.
Rahul also met Arab League chief Amr Musa yesterday and discussed the current political situation in the Middle East and South Asia, including Indo-Pak ties.
The two leaders discussed the recent developments and peace talks in Palestine and Israel, Obama administration's stand on the issue and the two-state solution, a statement issued by the Arab League said.
The Congress MP briefed Musa on the Indian expertise in realising development, combating poverty, spreading education and improving health services, it said.
During an interaction with students of the prestigious Cairo University earlier, Rahul pressed for enhancing of relations between the two nations in the field of education and student exchange programmes.
He urged global communities to combat terrorism, as it poses a major threat to both national and international security.
Rahul also visited Luxor, a prominent tourist centre, 700 km from the capital Cairo.