Egyptian President Visits India As Chief Visitor On Republic Day : Exploring The Diplomacy Behind The Invitation

Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, the incumbent President of the Arab Republic of Egypt is the chief visitor for the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi at present – for which he arrived on Tuesday. The Chief-Visitor invitation is an envelope that will get pushed by an intricate technique of diplomatic foresight and strategic considering – and this text explains the importance of such an invite, the concerns behind it, and what Al-Sisi’s go to means for India because it celebrates its 74th Republic Day. 

India’s 74th Republic Day Celebrations

India’s 74th Republic Day Celebrations are marked by a listing of ‘firsts’ because it celebrates 75 years of Independence or Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

The Rajpath has been renamed ‘Kartavya Path’ in honor of our foundational rules of democracy – and the VVIP seats for at present’s parade, often reserved for handed out to the households of the employees who toiled to offer impact to the grand imaginative and prescient of the New Central Vista. 

As a part of one other such ‘first’, the invitation of being the chief visitor for the occasion has been prolonged to Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the present President of Egypt – and his go to makes him the primary Egyptian head of state to develop into a chief visitor for India’s R-Day celebration. 

The consideration of being a chief visitor for this occasion is on no account an arbitrary symbolic gesture. As Mrs. Narinder Chauhan, former Indian Ambassador explains – 

“The visitor nation is chosen after a deliberation of strategic, financial, and political pursuits.” 

How are the invites important?

The invitation to be the chief visitor at Republic Day celebrations is the very best honor a rustic accords, when it comes to protocol. The parade and different ceremonial actions are performed in a fashion that retains the chief visitor in prominence and embeds him into the very material of the occasion. 

The visitor can be given the ceremonial guard of honor at Rashtrapati Bhavan and is hosted personally by the President, Prime Minister, Vice-President & Exterior Affairs Minister in numerous receptions, lunches, and conferences. 

Ambassador Manbir Singh, who served as Chief of Protocol for the MEA between 1999 and 2002, mirrored on the importance of the Chief-Visitor go to – 

“It portrays the Chief-Visitor as collaborating in India’s satisfaction and happiness, and displays the friendship between the 2 peoples represented by the President of India and the Chief Visitor.” 

Symbolisms equivalent to this indicators larger diplomatic relations between the 2 nations and serves as a instrument for forging significant bilateral ties. 

Diplomacy continues to be a grandiose affair – particularly when the Monitor-I order is worried. Such a excessive honor, alongside a meticulously deliberate occasion of colourful, well-made tableaus and ceremonial shows of army prowess – all act as a heat prelude for significant dialogue. 

India believes within the beliefs of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’, and thus realizes that reveals of courtesies and extensions of honor equivalent to this to visitor international locations can foster a larger admiration for India’s traditions and tradition within the visitor nation – which in flip act as instruments of soft-power to facilitate higher cooperation. 

An occasion such because the Republic Day celebrations additionally ensures ample media protection – and thus the applications and protocol maintain this in view, as identified by Ambassador Singh. Not solely does nationwide media cowl the proceedings, however so does the media entourage of the visiting head of state. 

This permits visible transmission of symbols of Indian custom, tradition, historical past, honor and variety – gentle energy showcases alongside weapon shows, reveals of arms, and air-shows – laborious energy showcases, to the general public of the guest-country, and shapes their notion concerning the host nation. 

What are the concerns behind the selection? 

The extension of invitation is barely the ultimate step in an in any other case lengthy and strategic choice course of. The Ministry of Exterior Affairs undertakes a number of concerns under consideration earlier than it zeroes in on a possible chief visitor. 

On the core of this choice course of, lies the concept that the go to acts because the ‘final signal of friendship between India and the nation of the invitee’, an MEA officer shares. 

Normally, the shortlisted invitees characterize nations with whom India shares, or needs to share significant relations to serve its political, business, and strategic pursuits. 

Traditionally, international locations which can be related to regional or multilateral groupings that India prioritizes, go larger up the short-list. 

Because the starting, members of the Non-Aligned Motion (NAM) have been prolonged the respect of being the chief visitor for this occasion. In 1950, President Sukarno of Indonesia, one of many 5 founding members of the NAM, was the chief visitor for the primary Republic Day celebration. Later, different key personalities equivalent to Tito of Yugoslavia additionally had been invited as chief company. 

As India went forward to develop into a serious voice in South Asia, and with the formation of SAARC – this de-facto privilege was handed on to SAARC members. India has hosted heads of state from Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and all different SAARC members a number of occasions over. 

With shifting tides of multilateral alliances, this privilege stored being prolonged to varied teams and casual groupings – equivalent to ASEAN, BRICS, QUAD & SCO. 

When it comes to protection, the MEA short-lists nations which both want to procure weapons and safety cooperation from us ; or international locations we want to strategically ally with, and collect armaments from. 

The army parades, air reveals, weapon-displays act as each a present of drive and functionality – visitor international locations have communicated the message that India possesses an excellent array of weapons and a big succesful contingent to place them to make use of, and likewise indicators that India is secure sufficient to be engaged as a army ally. 

Thus on this capability, the Republic Day celebration acts partly as a Protection-expo and partly as a 2+2 diplomatic & protection summit.

It’s mentioned that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s go to through the 2015 celebrations, and the go to of US President Barack Obama within the subsequent 12 months – led to a big shift of their notion of India’s protection potential, and paved the bottom for the QUAD alliance. 

Equally, French President Hollande’s go to as chief visitor for the 2016 Republic Day celebrations did ample for India’s procurement of Rafale jets from France. 

Visits by heads-of-state from Bhutan (2005), Mauritius (2002), Russia (2007), UAE (2017), and Brazil (2020), because the Chief-of-Visitor for the respective 12 months’s celebrations, got here with the background of those international locations seeking to import weapons and concluded with them procuring Brahmos missiles, Pinaka rocket launchers & Dhruv mild helicopters from India in the identical 12 months. 

Business concerns, equivalent to bilateral-trade relations, curiosity to obtain a sure useful resource, the potential for financial cooperation on initiatives equivalent to commerce corridors, logistical zones, and larger multilateral initiative at WTO – all play a task behind the entries on the chief visitor short-list. 

Lastly, the supply of the visitor throughout this era additionally performs an important issue. Because of this, the MEA offers a listing of potential company – upon which Indian diplomats can keep on communication and scheduling preparations with the heads of state who can go to. 

How essential is Al-Sisi’s Go to?

President Al-Sisi’s go to because the chief visitor for this 12 months’s Republic Day celebrations comes after a 2-year hiatus of not having any chief company for the celebrations as a result of pandemic. India & Egypt are additionally celebrating 75 years of diplomatic relations on this big day. 

Instantly after the invitation was accepted, the glory days of the Non-Alignment Motion had been recalled, as each India and Egypt had been founding members of the NAM and have been carefully associated ever since. 

Egypt & India share a ‘time-tested’ relationship, as expressed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who additionally shared that his expectations for this go to are to develop a way more sturdy partnership between these two historic civilizations. 

Egypt was chosen because the visitor nation, as consensus positive factors floor within the MEA that Egypt is a key participant within the Arab world – a strategic energy in Africa and a ‘gateway to the markets in Africa & Europe’. President Sisi’s go to makes him the primary Egyptian chief to grace the event. 

The Egyptian president is accompanied by a high-level delegation together with 5 ministers and senior officers, and ever since they landed on Tuesday, they’ve been a part of essential engagements, together with a bilateral assembly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 25, which addressed all problems with bilateral, regional and worldwide significance. 

Commercially, India & Egypt share an in depth relationship. Egypt has historically been one in every of India’s most essential buying and selling companions within the African continent. This relationship has seen larger trust-building, particularly as Egypt turned a patron for India’s vaccine diplomacy through the pandemic – resulting in a 75 % enhance in bilateral commerce in FY 2021-22 as in comparison with FY 2020-21. 

The 2 international locations are more likely to cooperate within the sector of agriculture. Lately, Egypt has been dealing with a scarcity of meals grains as a result of Russia-Ukraine scarcity and has expressed curiosity to obtain extra of the identical from India. Commerce talks across the identical can facilitate unique scientific cooperation within the discipline of meals safety. 

Consultants from Carnegie inform that Egypt is presently dealing with a international change disaster – and may have a look at Indian investments within the nation. India can be planning to extend its investments in infrastructure initiatives within the nation, particularly in and across the Suez Canal – which is rising in strategic significance for Indian companies in addition to the Indian Navy. This will additionally function an essential space of cooperation throughout this go to. 

Moreover, rising protection & Safety cooperation between the 2 nations can be a serious motive behind the invitation. Egypt needs to obtain Tejas mild fight plane, Akash surface-to-air missiles, and Dhruv superior mild helicopters from India – all of which might be displayed in at present’s ceremony. Each nations have additionally been collaborating in a number of joint army workout routines and coaching missions. 

India’s present Presidency of the G20 additionally performs a task within the invitation. Lately, India expressed that it needs to be the ‘voice of the worldwide south’ – and Egyptian cooperation is very essential for this, not solely as a result of it has emerged as a stakeholder in sure key areas of the International South such because the Horn of Africa – but in addition as a result of Egypt lately hosted the UN Local weather Change convention, the place main South-South cooperation was witnessed over the problem of ‘loss and injury’. 

Egypt’s influential membership within the Arab League & the African Union additionally permits India to make grounds in regional boards of the International South the place it can not attain out straight. 

Egypt can be a brand new member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which is presently chaired by India. India needs to construct significant cooperation with Egypt to maintain Russia & China in verify and to ship on its goal to make SCO extra ‘SECURE’ beneath its chairmanship. 

Subhajit Roy of the Indian Categorical additionally highlighted yet another political significance behind the extension of the invitation to Egypt. As India’s ties with Muslim-majority international locations had been threatened as a result of current controversy across the feedback made by BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, the connection with the Islamic nation of Egypt emerged extra essential. 

Egypt was one of many few international locations from the Arab world to not formally react to the remarks. This made the MEA have a look at Egypt as a ‘average Islamic voice’ – particularly within the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the place a powerful partnership with Egypt permits India to not directly counter its condemnation, led by nations equivalent to Pakistan. 

On a last be aware…

This makes President Sisi’s go to extraordinarily important for India, and as soon as once more showcases the diplomatic relevance of the chief visitor invitation for the Republic Day celebrations. 

Nonetheless, such significance additionally comes with a accountability – for the MEA to ask a head-of-state who represents and abides by the democratic beliefs of our structure. 

When Jair Bolsonaro was invited because the chief visitor in 2020, New Delhi witnessed a variety of protests and destructive reactions in opposition to that invitation, majorly as a result of Bolsonaro’s insurance policies and actions had been perceived as authoritarian.  

That could be a reminder that must be internalized on the eve of India@75.