New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu together welcomed Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El –Sisi at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday ahead of the 74th Republic Day celebrations. Egyptian President Sisi will be attending the Republic Day Parade as the Chief Guest.
News agency ANI posted a video of PM Modi and President Murmu welcoming Sisi.
The Egyptian President paid a visit to Rajghat and laid a wreath at the Mahatma Gandhi memorial, a tradition followed by the Republic Day chief guest every year.
Sisi said: "The relations between Egypt and India have been characterised by balance and stability. We have only seen constructive development. We have been all along evolving very positively."
He added: "I reiterate my congratulations to the Indian nation, government, and people for this great day. It is a great privilege to be a guest of honour and participate in the glorious national day."
It has been a tradition to invite foreign dignitaries for Republic Day. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will be India's chief guest at the 74th Republic Day celebrations, the Ministry of External Affairs sais on Saturday. The 68-year-old chief guest, who is also a retired military officer, was re-elected as the president of Egypt in 2018 and had been serving as the president of Egypt since 2014.
“This is for the first time that the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt has been invited as Chief Guest on our Republic Day,” the MEA said.
Last year in October, a formal invitation was sent to the Egyptian President El-Sisi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which was handed over by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
In December 2022, S Jaishankar said in the Lok Sabha that the Egyptian President had accepted the invitation.
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