News Highlight
The Prime Minister had sent a formal invitation to al-Sisi, handed over to the Egyptian President by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on October 16.
Key Takeaway
- This is the first time the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt will be the Chief Guest on Republic Day.
- Both countries are celebrating the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations this year.
The Republic Day chief guest
- About
- An invitation to be the Republic Day chief guest is highly symbolic from the Indian government’s perspective.
- Reasons
- The choice of chief guest every year is dictated by several reasons — strategic and diplomatic, business interests and international geopolitics.
- How is the Chief Guest chosen?
- The most central consideration is the nature of the relationship between India and the country concerned.
- Another factor that has historically played a role in the choice of the Chief Guest is the association with the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which began in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
- The Ministry of External Affairs
- Before extending the invitation, all kinds of considerations are taken into account by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
- After due consideration, the MEA seeks the approval of the Prime Minister and the President on the matter.
Republic Day
- About
- Republic day is a monumental day in Indian history because it was on this day that India adopted its own Constitution and declared its laws of the land.
- Features
- India adopted the Constitution of India on January 26, 1950, giving the day a special place in the history of India.
- The day is an occasion to commemorate the values of our democracy and Republic and to reaffirm our commitment to liberty, fraternity and equality across our society and among all our citizens.
Why Is Republic Day Celebrated on 26th January In India?
- The Constitution of India
- The constitution was adopted by the Indian Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949 and came into effect on 26 January 1950
- Purna Swaraj
- January 26 was chosen as Republic Day because on this day in 1930, Indian National Congress (INC) proclaimed the Declaration of Indian Independence (Purna Swaraj), rejecting the Dominion status offered by the British Regime.
India and Egypt relations
- Political Relations
- India and Egypt share close political understanding based on a long history of contact and cooperation in bilateral, regional, and global issues.
- Both countries have cooperated closely in multilateral fora and were the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement.
- The year 2022 is of particular significance since it marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Egypt.
- Economic Relations
- The India-Egypt Bilateral Trade Agreement has been in operation since 1978.
- The bilateral trade in 2018-19 reached US$ 4.55 billion.
- Space cooperation
- Joint Working Group meetings and discussions between ISRO and NARSS (National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences) have been held, since an MoU was signed.
- Defence Relations
- There was close cooperation between the Air Forces, with efforts at jointly developing a fighter aircraft in the 1960s.
- The first ever IAF-EAF Joint Tactical Air Exercise, Dessert Warrior, was held in 2021.
- Egypt participated in the Multinational Training Exercise for friendly African countries held at Pune in 2019.
- Cultural Relations
- The Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC) has been promoting cultural cooperation between the two countries.
- Indian Community
- At present, the Indian community in Egypt numbers at around 3200, most of whom are concentrated in Cairo.
- The grants-in-aid projects
- Pan Africa Tele-medicine and Tele-education project in Alexandria University, Solar electrification project in Agaween village and Vocational Training Centre for textile technology in Shoubra, Cairo, which have been completed.
- Technical and scientific fields
- A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the field of agricultural research was signed in 1998 by the ICAR and the Agricultural Research Center of the Ministry of Agriculture & Land of Egypt.
Content Source: Indian Express