With Egypt remaining one of the traditional partners in Africa, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is visiting Cairo from Sunday to upscale military ties for strategic outreach. Singh will hold bilateral talks with his counterpart in Egypt General Mohamed Zaki during the two-day long official tour.
The two ministers will review the bilateral defence ties, explore new initiatives to intensify military-to-military engagements and focus on deepening cooperation between the defence industries of the two countries, said the Defence Ministry in a statement ahead of Singh’s visit.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide further impetus to enhanced defence cooperation between India and Egypt will also be signed. Defence ministry sources did not rule out the minister exploring possibilities of pushing ‘Make in India’ military hardware and software, including Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas and helicopters from the stable of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and artillery guns.
To meet Egypt’s President
The Defence Minister will also call on President of Egypt Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi who enjoys a friendly equation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was in Delhi along with a delegation in 2016.
The two countries had signed joint defence cooperation way back in the late 1990s and the exchange of officers and delegations, joint training and visits by respective Naval ships and fighter aircraft happen regularly for decades now.