Cairo [Egypt], June 23 (ANI): Indian Ambassador to Egypt Ajit Gupte on Friday said India and Egypt are two of the greatest ancient civilizations in the world, and ties go back more than 4000 years.

“India and Egypt are two of the greatest ancient civilizations in the world and our ties go back more than 4000 years,” the Indian Ambassador to Egypt said.

“We’ve had maritime contacts over the centuries and in recent years, the relationship has gone from strength to strength. Particularly, after Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Prime Minister Modi both came to power in 2014,” he said.

The Indian Ambassador said that in Egypt, everybody is enamoured of Indian culture and that they have been watching Bollywood movies for decades. “They know that India and Egypt worked together to form the non-aligned movement. They still remember the close friendship between Mahatma Gandhi and Saad Zaghloul,” Gupte said.

The Indian Ambassador said the people of Egypt want to be close to India. “They are very closely associated with our culture and our family values.”He further said: “Prime Minister Modi arrives tomorrow. He’s here till the 25th. We are having for the first time, a roundtable between Prime Minister Modi and the Egyptian Prime Minister. After President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s highly successful visit to India in January 2023, both countries agreed to elevate the relations to a strategic partnership. And on his return, the Egyptian President constituted a special India unit in his cabinet which consists of senior ministers and they have been asked to improve relations with India. So Prime Minister will be having a meeting with the India unit.”PM Modi will make a State visit to Egypt on June 24 and 25.

The PM is visiting Egypt on the invitation of the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, which he extended in January 2023 when he graced India’s Republic Day celebrations as the ‘Chief Guest. This will be PM Modi’s first visit to Egypt, according to the MEA release.

The Prime Minister will apart from his talks with President Sisi, interact with senior dignitaries from the Egyptian Government, some prominent Egyptian personalities, as well as the Indian community in Egypt. Relations between India and Egypt are based on ancient trade and economic linkages as well as cultural and deep-rooted people-to-people ties.

During the state visit of President Sisi in January 2023, it was agreed to elevate the relationship to a ‘Strategic Partnership’. (ANI)