India & Egypt sign pact on defence cooperation, discuss stronger bilateral engagement

Cairo (Indian News Network): India and Egypt have signed a pact on defence cooperation thereby signalling their intent to forge closer ties in this sphere.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Egyptian Defence Minister General Mohamed Zaki during a bilateral meeting in Cairo on Monday.
“Had an excellent meeting with Egypt’s Defence Minister, General Mohamed Zaki in Cairo. We had wide-ranging discussions on several initiatives to further expand bilateral Defence engagements. Signing of the MoU on Defence Cooperation adds new impetus and synergy to our relations,” Singh tweeted.
During the meeting, both sides discussed steps to strengthen defence ties and reached a consensus to enhance conduct of joint exercises and exchange of personnel for training, especially in the field of counter-insurgency, India’s Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday.
Singh had earlier called on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
Both the Ministers agreed to consolidate and focus on enhancing security and defence aspects of bilateral cooperation.
Signing of MoU by the two Defence Ministers on cooperation in the field of defence was a milestone event during the visit, which will pave the way for enhancing defence cooperation across all sectors of mutual interest, the ministry added.
Singh, who is on an official visit to Egypt, was accorded a ceremonial Guard of Honour at the Ministry of Defence in Cairo before the bilateral talks commenced.
According to the defence ministry, the two Ministers agreed to identify proposals for expanding cooperation between the defence industries of India and Egypt in a time-bound manner.
They also exchanged views on regional security and acknowledged the contribution of India and Egypt to peace & stability in the world. Both sides expressed happiness at the intensified defence engagement and exchanges over the last year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry added.
Singh also invited his Egyptian counterpart to the India-Africa Defence Dialogue and IOR Defence Ministers’ Conclave, scheduled to be held as part of 12th DefExpo in Gandhinagar, Gujarat between October 18-22 this year.
During the day, the Indian Defence Minister paid homage at the Unknown Soldier Memorial and Tombstone of the late Egyptian President Anwar El–Sadat in Cairo.

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