India-Egypt
Republic Day 2023: Egypt’s army participated in India’s 74th Republic Day parade in the presence of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President Droupadi Murmu, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demonstrating the two countries’ close diplomatic ties for the first time in the glorious history of the Kartavya Path by marching across its length and saluting the dais.
Republic Day 2023: Egyptian Colonel’s speech of gratitude
“It is a joy for us to participate in India. We are visiting India for the first time at this time. It is a wonderful country with a history that predates that of Egypt. Both our civilizations are quite old. With our friends from the Indian Army, we have been practicing here for the past few days. The group’s commander, Egyptian Colonel Mahmoud Mohamed Abdel Fattah El Kharasawy, spoke to the media on Wednesday and said, “Our friendship is strong, and we love supporting one other.
On Thursday, the Indian contingent marched beside the Egyptian battalion, which was led by Colonel El Kharasawy and had 144 soldiers and represented the various branches of the Egyptian armed services.
A 12-member band marched behind the 144-person military force that made up the Egyptian contingent at the parade. Behind the contingent commander, an officer was holding the Egyptian flag while two officers each carried a ceremonial sword.
India-Egypt Unbreakable Bond
It is believed that the march of the Egyptian contingent and the president of Egypt’s visit are efforts to strengthen already-existing ties between Egypt and India. Since the 1960s, the two nations have maintained close defense relations.
Following an agreement reached between then-Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then-Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, India participated in Egypt’s aircraft sector in the 1960s. The nations worked together to create the Helwan HA-300 fighter aircraft.
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According to data on globalsecurity.org, a deal was signed in September 1964 between the two nations for the development of the E-300 engine. From the 1960s through 1984, Indian Air Force pilots also trained Egyptian pilots.
Exercise Cyclone-I, the first combined training session between the special forces of the two militaries, was recently held in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, on January 14, 2023. The exercise, which lasted 14 days, was designed to improve defense cooperation between the two countries with a focus on professional skill-sharing and Special Forces cooperation in desert terrain while conducting counterterrorism, investigations, raids, and other special operations.
