Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Special Envoy Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has invited Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to attend the Third India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi. India will host its largest diplomatic outreach programme with Africa from October 26, inviting leaders of all 54 States in the region, 10 months after it had cancelled the event due to Ebola scare. The five day-long third "India-Africa Summit" is expected to be attended by nearly 1000 delegates including heads of government, ministers, government officials, business leaders and others. While the meeting between the heads of the government and states will take place on October 29, it will be preceded by the rounds of interactions between the ministers and the senior officials. Naqvi, who is minister of state for parliamentary affairs and minority affairs, also conveyed the greetings of Modi to the Egyptian president during the meeting on Tuesday, according to an official statement Wednesday. President Sisi commended the longstanding and distinguished relations that bind Egypt and India. He said Egypt is keen to further enhance bilateral relations in various fields and commended "India's experience in achieving political and economic progress, which puts India in the ranks of rapidly developing high growth economies". Naqvi "praised the sound progress Egypt has made in terms of security, political stability and economic advancement". He noted that his country appreciates the role Egypt has played in bringing the African and Asian continents closer together. He underscored the opportunity for India to benefit from Egypt's unique location and potential as a gateway for India into Africa. On combating terrorism, the president noted that Egypt is interested in learning from India's experience in this regard, which the envoy welcomed, saying that his country has suffered from the scourge of terrorism. Naqvi said that India strongly condemns all the terrorist attacks that have taken place in Egypt and asserted that India stands firmly with Egypt in its efforts to fight terrorism in all its forms in order to be able to pursue the goal of comprehensive development, said the statement. Source: Business Standard
