Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi will visit India next week to discuss bilateral relations and trade, a statement by the president's office read. El-Sisi will hold talks with India's President Pranab Mukherjee, who invited him, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his trip from 1-3 September. Presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef said on Thursday that talks between El-Sisi and Indian leaders would focus on methods of boosting bilateral cooperation in different fields, including working on increasing the volume of trade between the two countries, which at present stands at $4 billion annually. Youssef added that discussions would also include promoting the contribution of Indian companies in national projects currently being executed in Egypt. In statements to state-owned MENA agency, India's ambassador to Egypt, Sanjay Bhattacharyya, said that the two sides would discuss issues of mutual concern including terrorism and extremism in the MENA region. Bhattacharyya described El-Sisi's visit as "a landmark that will give further momentum to the already strong partnership between the two countries." This will be El-Sisi's second visit to India; he first travelled to the country in October 2015 to attend the third India Africa Forum Summit, where presidents and representatives of 40 African countries discussed means of developing economic cooperation and mutual investments.
