Modi receives Egypt’s highest state honour

CAIRO:

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi  received Egypt’s highest state honour, ‘Order of the Nile’, from Egypt President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. Earlier on June 25, Mr. Modi visited Egypt’s historic 11th century al-Hakim Mosque and the Heliopolis Commonwealth War Cemetery in Cairo. PM Modi also held talks with the Egypt President, who had invited him to visit the nation. This is the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Egypt in 26 years.

El-Sisi is also scheduled to travel to India in September for the G-20 Summit where Egypt has been invited as a special guest.

At the Imam al-Hakim bi Amr Allah Mosque, a nearly 1,000-year-old structure in the heart of the Egyptian capital of Cairo, the Prime Minister was seen appreciating the intricate carved inscriptions on the walls and doorways of the mosque. The mosque, which covers an area of 13,560 square metres, was rebuilt with the help of India’s Dawoodi Bohra community. The community originated from the Fatimids. They renovated the mosque from 1970 onwards and have been maintaining it since then.

“The Prime Minister has a very close attachment to the Bohra community who have also been in Gujarat for many years,” India’s Ambassador to Egypt Ajit Gupte said. The memorial commemorates nearly 4,000 Indian soldiers who died fighting in Egypt and Palestine in the First World War.