New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Cairo on his first state visit to Egypt in the second leg of his two-nation tour. This is his first visit to the country as a prime minister and the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister after 26 years. Upon his arrival, PM Modi was received with a ceremonial welcome and a guard of honour and was greeted by his Egyptian counterpart Mostafa Madbouly at the Cairo airport.
According to reports, PM Modi will hold roundtable talks with PM Madbouly and the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during his two-day state visit on June 24 and 25.
He is also scheduled to meet the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Dr Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam, and interact with Egyptian thought leaders. Later, he will interact with the Indian community.
On Sunday, PM Modi will visit Al-Hakim mosque, a historic and prominent mosque in Cairo, and spend half-an-hour there. He will also visit Heliopolis War Grave cemetery to pay tribute to the Indian soldiers who laid their lives during the First World War.
PM Modi's visit to Egypt comes on the heels of Egyptian President El-Sisi's visit to India as the chief guest on Republic Day, indicating the strengthening of bilateral ties and the mutual desire to expand cooperation between the two countries.
He reached Egypt after concluding his US State visit. Calling his US visit special, PM Modi said that the two nations will keep working together to make the planet a better place for the coming generations. "Concluding a very special USA visit, where I got to take part in numerous programmes and interactions aimed at adding momentum to the India-USA friendship. Our nations will keep working together to make our planet a better place for the coming generations," PM Modi said in a tweet.