New Delhi [India], January 25 (ANI): Visiting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Wednesday held wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital and decided to elevate their ties to the level of strategic partnership.

Addressing a joint media statement after the talks that focussed on ways to enhance bilateral ties in a range of areas, including agriculture, digital domain, culture and trade, Egyptian President Sisi said that he has invited PM Modi to Cairo to complete the talks to move forward the ties between the two nations"I am going to take part in the Republic Day parade. I am thankful to PM Modi for such a grand welcome. During our discussions, we talked about trade and investment and how to further expand our cooperation in import and export," Egyptian President said.

He further said, "I met PM Modi in 2015 in New York and I had full confidence in him. I knew he will take his nation forward. I have invited Prime Minister Modi to Cairo, Egypt to complete our talks and elevate the ties between the two nations to a strategic partnership."Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that he told PM Modi about investment opportunities in Egypt and the government's measures to promote investment in Cairo.

"I told PM Modi about investment opportunities in Egypt and the Egyptian government's actions to promote investment. I expressed the desire for India to increase its investment in various sectors in Egypt, especially the Suez Canal Economic Zone," Sisi said.

The visiting dignitary said, "We have witnessed the willingness of Indian companies working in Egypt to increase their presence in the Suez Canal Economic Zone. Many Indian companies have expressed willingness to invest in promising sectors of Egypt."According to the Egyptian President, the two leaders discussed security cooperation between India and Egypt. El-Sisi said that they spoke about terrorism and discussed COP27. He expressed gratitude to PM Modi for inviting Egypt as a guest country for the upcoming G20 summit. He stressed that India and Egypt are "old cultural civilizations.""We also discussed cooperation in Green hydrogen and renewable energy sectors. India and Egypt are old cultural civilizations. The issue of connectivity was also discussed between the two countries in order to boost tourism," Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said.

"We spoke about fighting against terrorism, and also discussed COP27. We also discussed the security cooperation between Egypt and India. I have thanked PM Modi for inviting Egypt as a guest country for the upcoming G20 summit," the Egyptian President said.

Addressing the joint statement after the bilateral talks Hyderabad House here, PM Modi said, "We have decided that under India-Egypt Strategic Partnership, we will develop a long-term framework for more comprehensive cooperation in political, security, economic and scientific fields."He further said, "We have also decided in today's meeting to further strengthen cooperation between our defense industries, and to increase exchange of counter-terrorism information and intelligence."Sisi will be the Chief Guest on India's 74th Republic Day, marking the first time the President of Egypt has been invited as chief guest on India's Republic Day. Earlier in the day, he was welcomed by President Droupadi Murmu, PM Modi and several Union Ministers at Rashtrapati Bhavan. (ANI)