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India, Egypt join hands to counter religious radicalisation
PM Modi decided to revive the Egypt ties in 2022 when the decision to invite President Sisi as Chief Guest of 2023 Republic Day Parade was taken.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to Egypt last week may have got into the shadow of his pathbreaking state visit to US but the Indian leader, perhaps for the first time, personally initialed the bilateral “Strategic Partnership” document with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and opened a new chapter with the Arab world. This was the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister after then PM I K Gujral in 1997.
While the public focus was on bilateral economic cooperation and Global South cooperation, the key aim for India was to reach out to Egypt, which is still the headquarters of the Arab League and considered a leader of the Arab World. The visit came at a time when there is on-going tussle between Sunni Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Shia Iran and Türkiye, legatee of the Ottoman Empire, over the leadership of the Islamic world.
Read: 'You are India's hero': Indian community members in Egypt to PM Modi
Although PM Modi has visited Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Iran with Türkiye President Recep Erdogan coming to India, the reach out to Egypt, the seat of Islamic learning, was to cover the vital gap. Both India and Egypt are on the same page when it comes to countering religious radicalization with President Sisi showing his firmness against the Muslim Brotherhood and its radical affiliates all over the Middle East. Saudi Arabia and UAE have also banned the Muslim Brotherhood and designated its affiliates as terrorist groups but countries like Qatar, Kuwait and even Shia Iran share a cosy relationship with this pan-Islamic network.
President Sisi has gone on record stating that Muslim Brotherhood had been eating the mind and body of Egypt for 90 years. He said that groups like the Brotherhood gnawed at the state and created a culture of doubt and mistrust, and he warned against allowing countries to be destroyed from within, creating millions of refugees and generations of extremists, and releasing untold damage on the wider region for decades. It is under President Sisi’s rule that Egypt has taken a turn towards moderation without giving up on its traditional Islamic roots and past civilization culture.
Read: PM Modi says two-day State visit to Egypt a ‘historic one’
With President Sisi being made the Chief Guest at 2023 Republic Day parade over other international leaders and his returning to India in September as a special invitee for the G-20 summit in New Delhi, PM Modi has signaled intensification and revival of the bilateral relationship. The coming days will perhaps see increased Indian engagement with the African continent.
