Egyptian President Abdelfattah al-Sisi met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India on Wednesday in a bid to boost economic and security cooperation as well as strengthen ties in the face of cross-border terrorism.
«Both countries agree that joint action is needed to stamp out cross-border terrorism. And for this we will continue to try to alert the international community together,» Modi said, as reported by ‘Times of India’.
For his part, the Egyptian president stressed that «development cannot be achieved without security and stability». Al Sisi assured that he had discussed with Modi various «optimal» ways to combat terrorism and extremist thinking.
The Egyptian leader, who arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday at Modi’s invitation, signed five memorandums of understanding with the Asian prime minister, including one on cyber collaboration. The two sides have also decided to strengthen their defense cooperation, the daily ‘Al Ahram’ reported.
Prime Minister Modi’s remarks on terrorism refer to India’s accusations against Pakistan for allegedly backing terrorist groups operating in Kashmir, a region disputed between the two countries since 1947.
Egypt, which has been open to dialogue with New Delhi, especially in the field of defense because of its interest in India’s Akash missile systems, has always advocated dialogue between the two nations on Kashmir, while remaining neutral.
India welcomes Cairo’s diplomatic stance, as it also did not speak out against comments made by former Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma, who openly criticized the Prophet Muhammad and whose remarks sparked protests in several Gulf countries.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
