India and Egypt signed a "landmark" strategic partnership treaty on Sunday, the last day of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi's two-day visit to Cairo. The two countries had previously reached an understanding when Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi visited New Delhi in January of this year as the chief guest for the Republic Day parade.
Cairo is eager for further investments from India. It has urged that New Delhi use Egypt's strategic location as a gateway to three continents: Europe, West Asia, and all of Africa, and it has raised the prospect of India establishing an industrial zone in Egypt.
Support from Egypt would strengthen India's case for leading the Global South and lead to stronger ties with an Arab nation outside of the Persian Gulf.
The grandeur surrounding Modi's trip to Egypt did, however, have a message for his domestic detractors.
Six of the 13 accolades he received while serving as the country's prime minister, according to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, came from nations where Muslims make up the majority.
At a press conference in the national Capital, Sitharaman slammed Obama. “A former President under whose rule six Muslim-majority countries were bombed with more than 26,000 bombs. How will people trust his allegations?” she asked.
In a follow-up to the latter's trip to New Delhi in January, Modi and the Egyptian President had a "private one-on-one conversation" on Sunday. Over the course of two days, the two parties discussed enhancing their economic cooperation and inked agreements in the fields of agriculture and health care, as well as Indian investments in infrastructure, particularly the Suez Canal Authority.