The Rising Ascendance of Modi In Islamic World

Egypt became the thirteenth country to confer Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi its highest civilian award “Order of the Nile”, by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. It is the sixth Islamic country to do so, the other five being, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Bahrain and Palestine. Conferring of such awards by such Islamic nations of which three are powerhouses in the Islamic world, is definitely a slap on the face of the Pseudo-Seculars who have often termed PM Modi as communal, and try to shape his image anti-minority in the country. Further the Grand Mufti of Egypt Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam, praised PM Modi for his inclusive and pluralistic policies, and said he felt honoured to meet the Prime Minister. Other than these PM Modi has been also conferred with the Legion of Merit by the US Government and also the highest civilian honour of Russia. This shows the International acceptance and popularity of the Indian Prime Minister.

The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Egypt marks an important milestone as not only is it his first trip to Egypt but also the first official bilateral visit by any Indian Prime Minister to the country since 1997 and also marks 75 years of diplomatic relations between Egypt & India. Previous visits between India and Egypt have primarily been for multilateral events, hence the current visit is very significant in view of strengthening bilateral ties. The relationship between India and Egypt has witnessed an upswing in recent years. President of Egypt el-Sisi was the chief guest at India’s 74th Republic Day parade in 2023, and during the meet both agreed to elevate their bilateral relationship to a “Strategic Partnership”. PM Modi paid a visit to the 11th Century Al-Hakim Mosque during his visit, which was restored with the help of Dawoodi Bohra community, putting an emphasis on the spirit of cultural exchange and collaboration. Furthermore, PM Modi also paid a visit to the Heliopolis War Cemetery to pay tribute to the valiant Indian soldiers who sacrificed their lives for Egypt during the First World War. Egypt and India, both ancient civilisations have a deep historical foundation.

The oldest civilisational link between India and Egypt dates back almost 5000 years back to 2750 BCE when the Pharaoh of Egypt Sahure sent ships to the “Land of Punt” with enough historical basis and evidences to support “Punt” being the peninsular India. Even in the second millennium BCE, Egyptian mummies were wrapped in Indian Muslin dyed with Indigo showing established trade relations between the two civilisations. Much later in history Ashoka’s edicts refer to his relations with Egypt under Ptolemy II. If we take a look at modern history, Mahatma Gandhi and Egyptian revolutionary Saad Zaghloul shared a common goal of independence from British colonial rule. This relationship further blossomed into close friendship between Gamal Abdel Nasser and Jawaharlal Nehru. Moreover India and Egypt announced the establishment of diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level on August 18th, 1947 just three days after India attained Independence. In 1955 India and Egypt signed the Friendship treaty which was key to forming the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961. Further there can be parallels drawn between the movements/revolutions in 2011(Jan Lokpal Bill movement) in India and 2013 (Tahrir Square) in Egypt that led to regime change in both countries. Since 2014, post regime change, there has been an increased focus on political cooperation between India and Egypt. The heads of both sides met on the side-lines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2015, discussing counterterrorism, economic engagement, and regional issues. When the Egyptian President paid a State visit to India in 2016, a joint statement was issued outlining issues like- Political-security cooperation, Economic engagement and scientific collaboration and Cultural and people-people ties as the basis of a partnership for a new era. In the fiscal year 2018-19, the bilateral trade reached a value of $4.55 billion. India and Egypt have signed various agreements to enhance cooperation in various sectors. Like signing of a MoU between Prasar Bharati and the National Media Authority of Egypt to facilitate content exchange and co-productions.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Egypt demonstrated solidarity with India by dispatching three planes carrying medical supplies in 2021. Further, the Embassy of India signed an agreement to procure 3,00,000 doses of REMDESEVIR from M/s EVA Pharma, an Egyptian pharmaceutical company. Egypt also turned to India for wheat when the Russian invasion of Ukraine disrupted Egypts wheat imports. Notably, the trade reached a record high of $7.26 billion in the fiscal year 2021-22. The Joint Defence Committee (JDC) plays a crucial role in shaping the current defence cooperation between India and Egypt. The 8th JDC took place in New Delhi in 2018, followed by the 9th JDC held in Cairo in 2019. Egypt and Indian armed forces have had several exercises like, the Multinational Training Exercise held in Pune in 2019, first ever joint tactical air exercise named “Desert warrior” in 2021, and a joint exercise called “Exercise Cyclone-I” involved the special forces of both the armies. Reports emerged of India being in talks with Egypt to provide its indigenous fighter aircraft “Tejas”. Also, India has invited Egypt as a special guest for the G20 summit during its (India’s) Presidency.

The Maulana Azad Center for Indian Culture in Egypt promotes cultural cooperation through a plethora of affairs such as language classes, exhibitions, film shows, seminars and participation in local cultural events. The “Sawt-ul-Hind” is a magazine that showcases the culture exchange and a strong bond between the two countries.

PM Modi and President El-Sisi also signed a joint declaration to raise the level of cooperation between the two countries to strategic partnership during PM Modi’s State visit on June 25th, 2023. The two leaders also probed expanding tourism and cultural exchange through easing direct flights between Cairo and New Delhi. Other topics discussed included communications, information technology, pharmaceutical manufacturing, vaccines, higher education, renewable energy and green hydrogen. “We had the pleasure of receiving President El-Sisi as the chief guest at our Republic Day celebrations this year. These two visits in the span of a few months are a reflection of our rapidly evolving partnership with Egypt”, said PM Modi.

As we can see how our relations with Egypt has continually improved post 2014 with PM Modi being the 1st Prime Minister of India to have a state visit in the past two and half decades. Our better relations with Egypt is in line with our look west policy. Such steady engagements with Egypt will help us challenge environmental issues, terrorism and security concern. For both nations it will boost the development process in terms of better trade relations, energy concern, economic cooperation and infrastructure development. The relations hold a lot of promise as it further helps in a more stable Middle East. There is potential to raise the trade exchange between Egypt and India to $12 billion over the coming five years. No matter what the Pseudo Seculars of India may claim, the Islamic countries have been offering due respect to India and its Prime Minister and further even their religious leaders are praising Modi for his inclusive and pluralistic policies.

Prem Shukla,

National Spokesperson,

Bhartiya Janata Party.