Egyptian President accepted invitation to be India's chief guest on Republic Day: Jaishankar

New Delhi [India], December 7 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday informed the Parliament that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has accepted the invitation to be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in India. 

"As far as Republic Day celebrations are concerned, we have invited Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as the chief guest and he has graciously accepted the invitation," said Jaishankar in Parliament while delivering his remarks on the 'Latest Developments in India's Foreign Policy'.

He also informed the Parliament about the key foreign policy initiatives by India.

Earlier, Egyptian President General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was invited as the Chief Guest for the Republic Day Parade in 2023. It is the first time that an Egyptian President will be the chief guest on India's Republic Day.

"At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, will be the Chief Guest at India's Republic Day celebrations on January 26, 2023. This is the first time that the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt will be the Chief Guest at our Republic Day," the External Affairs Ministry said in the press release.

The MEA noted that India and Egypt have "warm and friendly relations" based on civilizational and deep-rooted people-to-people ties.

This year, India and Egypt will be marking the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. The MEA release said that India has invited Egypt as the 'guest country' during India's G20 presidency in 2022-2023.

India assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1.

Notably, Egypt has been one of India's largest trading partners in Africa and India-Egypt bilateral agreement has been in operation since 1978, according to MEA. Earlier in October, External Affairs Minister visited Egypt to review bilateral ties between the two nations.

During his visit, Jaishankar held a meeting with Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry and said that both of them discussed the Ukraine conflict and Indo-Pacific and also invited Egypt to the G20 summit. (ANI)