NEW DELHI: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi begins a visit to India where he will meet business leaders and be a guest of honour at the Republic Day parade. This is the first time that an Egyptian President has been invited as chief guest for the event.

Sisi will have a meeting and delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will also call on President Sisi. The visiting dignitary will interact with the Indian business community at an event on the same day, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

Egypt is trying to drum up foreign investment as it tries to manage a dollar shortage that has led to a sharp depreciation of the Egyptian pound.

Last year it sought help from energy-rich Gulf allies and the International Monetary Fund after the economic fallout from the war in Ukraine exacerbated its underlying challenges.

Cairo has also been seeking to forge political and trade ties beyond its traditional alliances with the United States and European powers, including in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

India and Egypt share close political understanding based on a long history of cooperation in bilateral, regional and global issues. The joint announcement of establishment of diplomatic relations at the Ambassadorial level was made on August 18, 1947.

India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser signed the Friendship Treaty between the two countries, and they were key to forming the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) along with Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito.

Since the 1980s, there have been four Prime Ministerial visits from India to Egypt: Rajiv Gandhi (1985); P V Narasimha Rao (1995); IK Gujral (1997); and Dr. Manmohan Singh (2009, NAM Summit).