With the state visit of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, from 24 to 27 January 2023, India and Egypt have finally hit the reset button, elevating their relationship to a strategic partnership. The former Field Marshal of the Egyptian Army, who exchanged his uniform for a civilian suit to become the country’s President after three years of turmoil in May 2014, was also the chief guest at India’s Republic Day function, which was held after a gap of three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He is the first Egyptian leader to have been accorded this rare honour by India.
Two ancient civilisations, multicultural societies and youthful nations with aspirational populations, India and Egypt have seen their relations blossom under Jawaharlal Nehru and Gamal Naseer, as also stagnate under President Hosni Mubarak. The latter’s long rule from 1981 to 2011 was marked by growing corruption, nepotism, economic woes, authoritarianism, civil unrest and the spread of radical Islam, particularly embodied in the Muslim Brotherhood, which became increasingly powerful.
Yet, there is a lighter note to the relationship which precedes the Nasser-Nehru era. The story goes that during the Second World War, a large number of Indian sepoys (soldiers) were drafted by the British to serve in the region. Some of them found it difficult to figure out denominations of the Egyptian currency. While shopping, they would typically extend a fistful of Egyptian Pounds, asking the vendor to take what was his due. Of course, the Egyptian shopkeeper had a field day! And of course, he looked forward to such customers.
To this day, if you try to outsmart an Egyptian, he may quip — “Ana Hindi?” (‘Am I an Indian?’) No prizes for guessing the import of the rhetorical remark! For years, Indians were seen in Egypt as simpletons, notwithstanding the genuine affection for India in the Egyptian street.
Over the decades India’s image has been transformed in Egypt which itself is a regional heavyweight aspiring to lead the African and Arab world. Cairo hosts the headquarters of the League of Arab States. It is the only country that straddles the Asian and African continents and is a contender for permanent membership of the UN Security Council from Africa, in addition to Nigeria and South Africa.
India and Egypt are among the ten largest troop and police contributing countries to the United Nations peacekeeping missions. An Egyptian Coptic Christian, Boutros Boutros-Ghali became the sixth Secretary General of the United Nations in 1991, but could serve only one term as he fell afoul of the United States which vetoed his re-election. That notwithstanding, Egypt has maintained strong military and political relations with the United States since the Camp David accord of 1979.
American assistance to Egypt has been invaluable in its economic and military development, underpinning their strategic partnership and strengthening regional stability. Since 1978, Egypt has received over $50 billion in military and $30 billion in economic assistance from the US.
The strongest military power in Africa with a population of over 100 million (Africa’s 3rd largest) Egypt is known as the ‘Gift of the river Nile’ and was still not so long ago among the most prosperous countries in the continent. It is blessed with some valuable natural resources, which include sizeable quantities of natural gas estimated at over 65 trillion cubic feet as well as petroleum. It also has vast deposits of rock phosphate, a vital component in fertilizers.
However economic progress became sluggish in the latter years of Mubarak’s rule due to the reasons mentioned above, leading to violent civil strife and his eventual ouster in 2011. Egypt’s economic growth stalled for at least five years between 2011 and 2016, FDI inflows dwindled and tourism (one of its main sources of revenue) came to a virtual standstill. Egypt was buffeted by terrorist attacks also targeting foreign tourists. President El-Sisi crushed Islamic radicalism with an iron fist and is trying to restore inbound tourism to its full potential, attract foreign investments and nurse the economy back to health.
Indian investments which were in the vicinity of $450 million in 2005 have since surged to $3.15 billion. There is considerable potential for far greater Indian investments in sectors like renewable energy including green hydrogen, petrochemicals, agriculture, healthcare, education, Human resource development and IT. Egypt is particularly keen on attracting Indian industries to the newly established Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCEZ) and is open to earmarking an area for that purpose.
Several Indian companies are actively exploring investment opportunities. Bilateral trade is also on the upswing having scaled a new high of $7.26 billion in 2021-22, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. The sides have established a trade target of $12 billion within the next five years. President El-Sisi is trying to reintroduce political stability and improve the business climate. There is also the need to remove non-tariff barriers.
At the same time, bilateral defence ties are also growing. During the visit of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Egypt in September 2022, a MoU for defence cooperation was concluded. Interaction between the armed forces is being stepped up through exchanges in training, joint exercises, transits and high-level bilateral visits. There is mutual interest in exchanging best practices and technology between defence industries, as also exploring the possibilities of co-production in the defence sector.
India and Egypt, having had to face and still facing the scourge of terrorism, have ‘zero tolerance’ for terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. They regard terrorism as one of the most serious security threats to humanity. They condemn all efforts, including by States, to use religion to justify, support and sponsor terrorism against other countries. The Egyptian President and Indian Prime Minister agreed on the need to hold the JWG on Counter-Terrorism on a regular basis to exchange information and best practices. The two sides also agreed on enhancing interaction between their respective National Security Councils.
As such, there is a marked convergence of interests, aspirations and outlooks which should propel the strategic partnership forward in political, security, defence, energy, economic and other spheres. It helps that the relationship is anchored on popular goodwill. A common man on the Egyptian street reacts spontaneously and warmly towards India. Egypt is easily one of the most welcoming places for Indians. However, a lot of heavy lifting would have to be done by both sides in the years ahead to infuse greater content and depth in the relationship.
The author is Former Envoy to South Korea and Canada and Official Spokesperson to the Ministry of External Affairs. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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