'Swaraj's Egypt visit an opportunity to review bilateral ties'

The two-day visit of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to Egypt will provide an opportunity to review bilateral relations between the two nations and will also promote various aspects of mutual interest, including fighting terrorism, India's Ambassador to Egypt has said.
"The visit of the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is the first to Egypt. She is coming for a standalone visit in view of the very close relations that we have had over a very long period of time and our desire and commitment is to take this relationship to a higher level to build a new partnership," Ambassador Sanjay Bhattacharyya told PTI in an interview.

Ambassador Bhattacharyya said the upcoming visit of the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to Cairo will provide an opportunity to review the entire gamut of the bilateral and multilateral relations and to exchange views with the Egyptian leadership covering whole range of issues of mutual interest.
The External Affairs Minister will be on a two-day visit to Egypt from Monday which is expected to help bilateral ties gain traction.
During her visit, she will call on Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, hold bilateral talks with her counterpart Sameh Shoukry and meet Nabil ElAraby, the Secretary General of the League of Arab States, besides other leaders.

Bhattacharyya said both countries have very similar situations and are committing to sharing their experiences.

"India and Egypt are both developing countries. And just as we shared our experience in the past we will continue to do so," Bhattacharyya said.
"India and Egypt have traditionally enjoyed close and friendly relations since long ago. There are many aspects in which we can extend and promote our cooperation," he said.
"In the fields of politics and security we can combine our discussions and coordination to fight terrorism which is a challenge that we all face across the world. Terrorism is not something that is related to ideology or religion and it must be fought at all costs," Bhattacharyya said.

The Ambassador also added that there are many opportunities for India and Egypt particularly in the economic engagement.
"We believe that we already have a very strong economic engagement in terms of bilateral trade and investment. But we can actually reach a much greater potential. This will be our objective," he said.