Press release 42

5 August 2010

Visit of H.E. Ms. Vijaya Latha Reddy, Vice Minister, Ministry of External Affairs of India

The 8th session of the India-Egypt Foreign Office Consultations was held in Cairo on 5 August 2010. The Indian delegation to the talks was led by H.E. Ms. Vijaya Latha Reddy, Vice Minister in the Ministry of External Affairs of India. The Egyptian delegation was led by H.E. Amb. Ahmed Amin Fathalla, Assistant Foreign Minister for Asian Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt.

H.E. Ms. Vijaya Latha Reddy noted that India and Egypt shared similar views on international issues and the approaches of the two countries were characterised by mutual understanding and respect for each other's positions. Both sides underlined the priority assigned to the India-Egypt relations, in the bilateral context as well as in multilateral fora. Both sides discussed the preparations of the forthcoming 6^th round of India-Egypt Joint Commission Meeting that is scheduled to be held in Cairo in September 2010. Views were also exchanged on regional and international issues of common interest.

The leaders of the two delegations recalled the historic and traditionally friendly ties between India and Egypt and reaffirmed the priority assigned to the further strengthening of the bilateral relations. Both sides noted with happiness that Egypt and India have been able to overcome the global financial crisis and the economies of both countries are expected to grow further. Welcoming the increase in bilateral trade and investment, both sides agreed that necessary assistance should be extended at the official level to Indian and Egyptian businessmen and investors to sustain this positive trend. Bilateral trade between India and Egypt has increased from USD 446 million in 2000-01 to more than USD 2.7 billion in 2009-10. Indian investments in Egypt, primarily from the Indian private sector, have reached USD 2 billion and several Indian companies are actively evaluating further investment opportunities in Egypt.

The Foreign Office Consultations also reviewed bilateral cooperation in the fields of agriculture, energy, science and technology, and culture. It was agreed that these areas of cooperation would continue to receive importance. The strengthening of cooperation in the IT sector and tourism and sharing of experience and expertise in administrative development and reforms was also emphasised.

A meeting also took place on 5^th August between H.E. Ms. Vijaya Latha Reddy and H.E. Mr. Soliman Awad, Secretary to H.E. the President & Spokesperson, The Presidency, Arab Republic of Egypt.*