EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT MURSI TO VISIT PAKISTAN AND INDIA

Photo: Reuters Islamabad, 6 Jumadil Awwal 1434/17 March 2013 (MINA) – Egyptian President Muhamed Mursi will visit Pakistan this week on a one-day state visit, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday (16/3).

Mursi is due in the country Monday (18/3) by invitation of President Asif Ali Zardari and will bring with him “a high-powered delegation”, said ministry spokesman according Ahram report monitored by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).

“This visit is being seen as a watershed and a landmark in the traditional and friendly relations between the two large and important Muslim countries,” the spokesman said, adding Mursi was set to be the “the first civilian, democratically and freely elected” Egyptian leader to visit Pakistan.

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Mursi was expected to hold a one-on-one meeting with Zardari and sign a number of mutual agreements.

The pair will “hold extensive discussions on all areas of bilateral relations including regional and international issues of mutual interest”, said the spokesman, without specifying what agreements would be signed.

“President Mursi’s decision to choose Pakistan as the first South Asian country for a bilateral visit manifests Egypt’s desire to add a new chapter to its bilateral ties with Pakistan,” he added.

The last Egyptian president to make a bilateral visit to Pakistan was the late Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1960s.

According to Daily News Egypt Mursi is then scheduled to travel to Delhi later in the day and meet with Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Minister of External Affairs Salman Khurshid, and high-profile lawmakers in the Indian government.

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The Indian Ministry of External Affairs stated that it was expecting Mursi to bring between 15 and 20 high-profile Egyptian businessmen with him.

The ministry pointed to increased trade between the two nations as proof that despite Egypt’s recent political instability, both sides had taken an interest in a better economic relationship.

The Ministry for External Affairs said it was expecting Mursi to bring at least four Egyptian ministers on his trip including the heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Ministry of Trade and Commerce, and the Ministry of Investment. (T/P03/E1)

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)