Egyptian President’s Republic Day visit to reinforce age-old ties with India

“It is the first visit as a chief guest by an Egyptian President. Of course, we did have leaders from the Arab world before. We had the Saudi King also before and others. But, this is the very first time from Egypt,” Ausaf Sayeed, secretary (CPV & OIA), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) told ANI on Monday.

The stature of the two countries in their respective regions and domains are such that their bilateral engagement could go a long way in positively influencing regional, political and economic scenarios. Notwithstanding ebbs and flows the bilateral relationship is moving on a positive trajectory since they became independent.

In modern times, Mahatma Gandhi and Saad Zaghloul shared common goals on the independence of their countries, a relationship that was to blossom into an exceptionally close friendship between Gamal Abdel Nasser and Jawaharlal Nehru, leading to a Friendship Treaty between the two countries in 1955.

The trade relations remained robust despite disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Bilateral trade has expanded by more than five times over the last decade, reaching USD 4.55 billion in FY 2018-19. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the volume of trade declined only marginally to USD 4.5 billion in FY 2019-20 and to USD 4.15 billion in FY 2020-21.

As per data from Egyptian Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), India emerged as the third-largest export market for Egypt, the sixth-largest trading partner, and the seventh-largest exporter to Egypt. In 2022, India-Egypt recorded the highest-ever bilateral trade of USD7.26 billion, with items like crude petroleum, fertilizers, bovine meat, cotton yarn etc. dominating the trade basket.

The main items exported from India to Egypt include bovine meat, iron and steel, light vehicles, and cotton yarn. Indian companies have also invested heavily in Egypt, to the tune of USD3.15 billion. Recently at the fifth India-Egypt Joint Trade Committee meeting held in Cairo on July 25, 2022, India’s Ambassador to Egypt, Ajit Gupte, announced India’s plans to inject around USD700 million worth of private investments in Egypt over the coming few years.

There is a significant presence of Indian companies in Egypt in almost every field. In the process, these companies provide direct and indirect employment to several Egyptians. The top 5 Indian companies alone, mainly in the labour-intensive textile industry, provided maximum direct employment.

Notably, many Indian companies are operating in Egypt for decades. As of June 2022, over 450 Indian companies are registered in Egypt, of which around 50 are active in various sectors with a combined investment exceeding USD3.15 billion.

TCI Sanmar has announced plans for additional investments of USD400 million and Flex P Films is increasing their investments by USD230 million in the upcoming years. In November 2021, Indian start-up ZoomCar launched its operations in Egypt with a fleet of around 50 vehicles.

Indian companies also execute projects in railway signalling, pollution control including air pollution equipment, water treatment, irrigation, anti-collision devices etc. Indian companies Larsen and Toubro India (L&T India) and Sterling & Wilson have also executed projects in Egypt, in the energy and telecom sectors. Among various projects, L&T successfully completed the Toshka 2 – Wadi Halfa 220 kV double circuit overhead transmission line.

Sterling & Wilson (S&W) built a cumulative capacity of 250 MW of Solar PV plants in five projects in Aswan in FY 2019, worth a total of USD250 million, in addition to a data center project worth USD3 million. In February 2020, the company was awarded a contract to set up a cloud data center for Telecom Egypt in a USD30 million deal, apart from a USD2 million worth data center deal with Vodafone Egypt.

Egypt’s El Sewedy group set up in Noida (Uttar Pradesh state) in 2013 for manufacturing smart electric meters. KAPCI Coatings set up their manufacturing plant in Bangalore (Karnataka) to produce car paints with an investment of USD15 million. Modern Waterproofing Group (Bitumode) has a manufacturing facility in Dahej (Gujarat). It is a multinational group of companies that is engaged in manufacturing a wide range of products for the construction industry, including waterproofing membranes and protection boards.

He said, Defence and security cooperation has become an important pillar in India-Egypt relations and both countries are linked through their efforts to ensure peace and stability in the Indian Ocean.” He hoped India will lift a ban on wheat exports in the aftermath of Egypt approving the country as a certified supplier of the commodity.

Since then times have changed dramatically and a new geopolitical order is evolving. India as an Asian leader and Egypt as an African leader could contribute in several ways to sustainable development, peace and harmony.