Al Massayea, p.2, (9-11-2008)

President Mubarak's upcoming visit to India crowns bilateral relations

The Egyptian-Indian relations have witnessed noticeable growth at various political, economic, cultural and scientific levels. The two sides have become more interested in enhancing bilateral relations through intensifying high-ranking ministerial visits in the context of the Egyptian foreign policy aiming at enhancing cooperation with major powers in Asia, foremost of which are India and China.

Accompanied by a high-ranking delegation, President Hosni Mubarak will visit India later this month. The visit will upgrade the Egyptian-Indian relations taking them to new prospects of joint cooperation.

Bilateral relations between Egypt and India have covered exchange of visits recently. In December 2006, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit visited New Delhi to chair the 5^th session of the Joint Ministerial Commission, which gave a strong push to the growing bilateral relations. The meetings of the Commission, which had been stopped for 6 years, were a good opportunity to draw a map for the future of bilateral relations in various fields, foremost of which are trade and investments, civil aviation, tourism and services, electricity and energy, oil and mining, health and population, judicial and security cooperation as well as scientific and cultural cooperation. Representatives of 14 Egyptian ministries participated in the Commission meetings.

Ahmed Abul Gheit's visit to India reflects Egypt's desire to develop its relations with India in various sectors. At the conclusion of the visit, the Egyptian-Indian Partnership Agreement was signed and the Executive Program for Cultural and Educational Cooperation and the Executive Program for Scientific and Technological Cooperation were renewed. In addition, the two sides signed an action plan for cooperation in agricultural researches. The Minister of Foreign Affairs delivered a handwritten message from President Hosni Mubarak to the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The message approached the means of developing and enhancing bilateral relations.

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