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Krishna heads to Egypt, Syria on agenda
Friday March 02, 2012 02:16:53 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Friday left for Egypt on a
three-day visit during which he is expected to forge relations
with the new dispensation in North Africa's most influential
country and discuss the Syrian crisis with the Arab League in
Cairo.
This is the first high-profile visit from India in the aftermath
of the Arab Spring that toppled Egypt's longstanding ruler Hosni
Mubarak.
Ahead of talks with the new Egyptian leadership, Krishna Saturday
will meet Nabil El Araby, secretary general of the Arab League and
its troika of representatives Qatar, Libya and Iraq in Cairo.
With the crisis in Syria worsening, India is expected to lend
diplomatic support to the Arab League's initiative to handle the
Syria crisis.
India voted for the Arab League-backed UN Security Council
resolution on Syria and backed the UN General Assembly resolution
which condemns the violence and supports democratic transition in
that country.
Last week, India had sent Rajeev Shahare, joint secretary in
charge of West Asia and North Africa in the external affairs
ministry, to the Friends of Syria meeting in Tunis.
Krishna will also discuss issues relating to Syria and Iran with
the Arab League.
Krishna will also co-chair the sixth meeting of a joint commission
with Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr.
The joint commission meeting will undertake a comprehensive review
of India-Egypt cooperation in trade, economy, science, IT and
culture, the external affairs ministry said.
A clutch of agreements relating to economic and technological
cooperation are expected to be signed after the talks.
The two ministers will discuss steps on scaling up economic and
political ties with Egypt in the midst of dramatic changes in that
country following the overthrow of Mubarak in February last year.
Krishna is expected to forge equations with the transitional
military-dominated Egyptian government and key stakeholders in the
evolving power structure in the country.
He will meet Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, chief of the
Supreme Council of Armed Forces of Egypt, besides holding meeting
the leadership of major Egyptian political parties.
He will unveil a portrait of Rabindranath Tagore in Cairo as part
of Tagore's 150th birth anniversary celebrations.
Bilateral trade is currently estimated to be $3.2 billion. Egypt
is seeking Indian investment in diverse areas including
infrastructure, agriculture, agro-processing and oil and gas.
Indian investments in Egypt are estimated to be around $2 billion
in areas such as IT, petroleum, oil and gas.
Indian companies like Essar, Reliance and the Tata group are
planning huge investments in Egypt, a country better known outside
for pyramids, pharaohs and the Nile river cruise.
The post-Mubarak Egypt is keen to build stronger relations.
Egypt's then foreign minister Nabil Al-Araby visited India in May,
barely months after the Tahrir Square uprising.
India and Egypt were among the co-founders of the Non-Aligned
Movement and have enjoyed robust relations.
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