El Sisi x Modi: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the presidential palace yesterday, on the final day of the Indian leader’s two-day state visit to Egypt, an Ittihadiya statementsaid. The two men discussed strengthening bilateral trade and investment in areas including renewable energy, green hydrogen, IT, pharma, and education. They also discussed ways to boost tourism between the two countries including by upping the number of direct flights between Cairo and New Delhi.

Next-level friends: The two leaders signed an agreement elevating ties to the level of a “strategic partnership,” Ittihadiya said. El Sisi also bestowed Modi with the Order of the Nile — Egypt’s highest civilian honor. They also signed three MoUs on agriculture, archaeology and antiquities, and competition law, an Indian statementsaid, without giving details.

They’ll next see each other at the G20: Modi officially invited El Sisi to jointhe September G20 summit being hosted by India, according to an SIS statement. India last year said it would invite Egypt to all the sessions of the G20 it is hosting. Modi also reportedly wants to make the African Union a permanent member of the G20 at this year’s summit.

REMEMBER- Modi met with PM Moustafa Madbouly on Saturday for a roundtable where they spoke about how to meet a target to up bilateral trade to USD 12 bn within five years.

PLUS- No more Egypt, Oman double taxation: Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tarek ratified an agreement to eliminate dual taxation with Egypt and crack down on tax evasion, according to the Oman News Agency. The agreement was first inked during an Egyptian-Omani business forum in May.

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