S. Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, stated on Saturday that he will speak with Dharmendra Pradhan, the minister of education, skill, and entrepreneurship, about working with Egypt to establish prestigious research universities like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).
He spoke with the Cairo Indian community and stated, “Getting one of our IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) to establish a cooperative venture here piqued special interest in Egypt. With our education minister in India, I will talk about this.” Notably, the best universities in the nation are considering expanding their campuses abroad. The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have been suggested as taking the lead on this front by a government-created committee.
The 16-member committee, led by K Radhakrishnan, chairman of the IIT council’s standing committee, has been tasked with creating a framework for Indian universities to open campuses abroad. It was established by the Union education ministry after IIT-Delhi submitted a proposal last year for the opening of centres in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Jaishankar went on to say that Egypt and India have a healthy connection. “The opportunities are larger, and India is eager to explore them. Tomorrow I will visit with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and reaffirm Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strong personal commitment to advancing this partnership “he said.
He remarked when discussing economic connections, “Egypt has begun buying wheat from India, which is one of the exciting developments in our commercial relations. Egypt enjoys the advantage because commerce has been well balanced on both sides.”
Speaking on the Covid epidemic, Jaishankar recounted the success story of India, including the lessons learned from the disease, the return of Indians during the pandemic, and how India rose to become the world’s pharmacy.
“We are still using the lessons we learned through COVID, with the health system expanding to hundreds of millions of people and initiatives for home ownership providing nearly 25 million homes in recent years. It’s a society where notable changes are actually taking place, “EAM in Egypt remarked.
“During COVID, we made an unprecedented effort to return Indians to their homes. India today is a powerful nation capable of great things. It has demonstrated its capacity to overcome obstacles “Jaishankar added.
“Although this is my first trip as the minister of external affairs, it is not my first time in Egypt; my first trip was around 15 years ago when I was a tourist. My goal today is different; it’s true to strengthen our connection and meet my counterparts, the officials of the Egyptian government.”
He informed the Indian community of his appraisal of the two nations’ relationship, saying that as stakeholders, they should naturally be interested in its improvement.
Regarding the state of our relationship, the EAM said, “I would like you all to understand that today there is a very very serious effort at upgrading our ties and this is the 75th anniversary of our diplomatic relations and my presence here, preceded a few weeks ago by our Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, I think is a robust political signal to Egypt that India definitely would like to raise the quality of the relationship.”
“As political partners, we have a long history with this nation dating back to the 1950s. By and large, we have maintained the independent course, and today, at a time when the world is quite polarised and we see compulsions in many ways, it is important for us to reiterate the bonds of friendship between us and to work together on significant international issues,” added Jaishankar.
He emphasised once more how crucial it is for autonomous nations to state their minds as the globe becomes increasingly divided.
“As the globe becomes increasingly politicised, it is imperative that independent-minded nations state their minds… Richer nations frequently fail to understand how global events harm developing nations. Today’s world is incredibly hectic and depressing. countries in difficulty “Jaishankar stated.
