G20 summit: Egypt President El-Sisi arrives in India to a rousing welcome

Egypt President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Friday arrived in the national capital for the G20 summit.

The summit, which will be attended by a sizeable complement of world leaders and delegates representing international organisations, will be hosted at the state-of-the-art Bharat Mandapam over two days - September 9 and 10.

On his arrival at Delhi's Palam airbase, the Egyptian President was treated to a folk dance.

Earlier, on his maiden visit to Egypt in July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred the country's highest state honour by President El-Sisi.

It was the 13th state honour of its kind to have been conferred on Prime Minister Modi.

PM Modi also held a one-to-one meeting with the Egyptian President during which the countries formally arrived at an agreement to elevate the bilateral relationship to a 'strategic partnership'.

The two leaders discussed ways to further deepen the partnership between the two nations, including trade, investment, defence, security, renewable energy, cultural and people-to-people ties.

Prime Minister Modi also held a roundtable meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Mostafa Madbouly in Cairo. He also met thought leaders in Egypt as a part of his two-day visit to the land of the Pharaohs.

On his return to Delhi, PM Modi called his two-day visit to Egypt a "historic one", stating that it will add renewed vigour to the relations between India and Egypt and benefit the people of the two countries.

India and Egypt share close political understanding based on a long history of contacts and cooperation on bilateral, regional and global issues.

The countries, which represent two of the world's oldest civilizations, have enjoyed a history of close contact from ancient times.

Egypt has been traditionally one of India's most important trading partners in the African continent. The India-Egypt Bilateral Trade Agreement has been in operation since March 1978 and is based on the Most Favoured Nation clause and the bilateral trade has increased more than five times in the last ten years, an official release by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) states.

At present, the Indian community in Egypt numbers about 4,200, with the majority concentrated in the capital city, Cairo.