Why Egypt is key to India’s plans for Middle East and Africa

Away from the media glitz, Egypt is set to be India’s key focus to increase its footprint in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

 To consolidate partnership with Cairo, India batted for Egypt’s inclusion in BRICS, and now, it is also a key component of the African Union which has been included as a permanent member of G20 in recently concluded summit in New Delhi.

India’s ambassador to Egypt, Ajit Gupte, told the Egypt Daily News that India’s invitation to Egypt as special guest at G20 seeks to depoliticise the global supply of food, fertilisers, and medical products to prevent geopolitical tensions from leading to humanitarian crises and in this endeavour African nations such as  Egypt have a special role to play.

Gupte suggested that India and Egypt could cooperate in various fields such as IT, digital economy, agriculture, environment, and health in the future.

Egypt is India’s most vital trading partner in Africa, with India’s exports to Egypt in FY 2021/22 amounting to $3.74bn, showing an 86% increase over the previous year.

The primary Indian imports from Egypt include mineral oil/petroleum, fertilisers, inorganic chemicals, and cotton. In contrast, the primary items India exports to Egypt are buffalo meat, iron and steel, engineering products, light vehicles, and cotton yarn.

Given that Egypt imports 90 per cent of its food requirements from Russia and Ukraine combinedly, the ongoing conflict there compels it to search for different suppliers. India, in that context, is a feasible option.