Rose el Youssef newspaper, p.20, (16-11-2008)
A country that reached the moon
By: Abdallah Kamal
President Mubarak starts an important visit to India today. Arrangements indicate that he will be warmly welcomed. He will also be granted Jawaharlal Nehru Award in appreciation of his role, efforts and influence.
Some journalists in non-government newspapers criticize us for describing all external visits of President Mubarak as important. This criticism does not fit, for there are, in effect, historical visits, unprecedented visits, necessary visits, and so on. If a President's visit to a certain country is not important, why should he pay it at the first place? Besides, we do not describe any visit as important until we have mentioned the reasons.
President Mubarak's visit to India is special. Its importance stems from the fact that it is the first by the President since 1982. Since that time, India has become different. Political issues are no longer the only topic that gather us. It is a great nation and a matchless civilization, although there are other ancient eastern civilizations.
We used to communicate with India in terms of the principles of the Non-Aligned Movement established by Egypt and India in the mid 1950s. This movement influenced the interactions among many countries during the cold-war era. Now, in addition to the common political and cultural interests, there are many other common interests between the two countries in view of the development witnessed by India and Egypt.
India is no longer the country that we used to describe as "the country of elephants" while watching its films and enjoying its myths. India has become a modern nation as it reached the moon few days ago. It is a nuclear nation. After two decades from now, India is expected to become one of the most important new powers of the world.
The common economic, scientific and communication interests are probable fields of bilateral cooperation given the high economic growth rate of India which amounted to 9.4% last year. Due to overpopulation, the per capita income in India is about $500, which is lower than its counterpart in Egypt. However, the International Monetary Fund expects the Indian economy to achieve more growth despite the international crisis. Success stories of Indian companies are well-known. India has become a destination of western investments. FDIs rose by 259% during last September comparing to the previous year.
The high growth rate and the economic prosperity of India – which is not, as the case with other countries, counteracted by internal media campaigns claiming that the poor are not getting a fair share of it – made India an exporter of foreign investments and tourists to the majority of world countries. Egypt is a destination of the Indian investments and tourists. Hence, some important aspects of President Mubarak's visit become clear. President Mubarak's visits aim for promoting the Egyptian economic and political interests.
The most important value in the Indian experiment is that it combats abject poverty and depends on the huge human resources, while implementing ambitious family control programs so that India's progress may not be counteracted by overpopulation.
The important visit of president Mubarak highlights the potential of bilateral cooperation. The visit promotes and enhances the well-known cooperation between the two countries in various fields. Both Egypt and India are making progress. They are considered by the West the jewels of the South and the East.
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