Al Ahram Al Massai, p.4, (4-7-2008)

Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit held talks with his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee, the Indian Minister of External Affairs, who is visiting Cairo.

 

In a joint press conference, Ahmed Abul Gheit said that he held talks with the Indian Minister in Sharm Al Sheikh on the sidelines of the African Union summit which concluded last Tuesday.

 

The talks of President Mubarak with the Indian Minister in Sharm Al Sheikh focused on bilateral relations and intensifying relations between the two countries in various fields: industrial, agricultural, technological, academic and fields related to human activities, he said.

 

The Foreign Minister added that he reviewed with the Indian Minister the situation in the Middle East, including the situation in Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Darfur, as well as the issue of enlarging the Security Council and reforming the UN as the two countries currently focus on the need for reform.

 

He pointed out that the talks approached also situations in the Indian subcontinent and the Indian view on various issues. They also discussed the international food crisis, energy and price rise.

 

Regarding the current efforts in the UN to enlarge the Security Council, Abul Gheit said the Egyptian and Indian views meet because we in Egypt adhere to the so-called "African Consensus" which asks for two permanent seats for Africa along with the right of veto, while the Indian stance asks for enlarging the Security Council and a permanent seat for India and insists on the right of veto.

 

Delhi meetings, he said, show that India and the African Union met together and agreed on a provision highlighting this point, pointing out that during the talks the Indian Minister conveyed to him that India supports the African stance and that it does not have any reservations in this regard.

 

Answering a question about the Israeli provocations to the Palestinian side, which threatens to breach the truce, Abul Gheit said Egypt had previously asserted the necessity to abide by self-control, not to provoke the Palestinian side and to stop the Israeli operations in the West Bank so that the Palestinian organisations and factions may not be obliged to launch counterattacks from Gaza. On the other side, he said, we call our brothers in the Palestinian organizations, whether in Gaza or the West Bank, not to carry out any operations that would breach ceasefire.

 

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