India-Egypt relationship Is historic: Egyptian Ambassador to U.S.

July 28, 2022

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Ambassador Motaz Zahran speaking at the “Ambassador Insider Series: Egypt,” organized by The Washington Diplomat on July 20th in Washington DC. PHOTO: T. Vishnudatta Jayaraman, News India Times

Washington D.C. – India and Egypt enjoy a “historic relationship,” based on friendship, shared common goals, and in culture and history of both countries, said Ambassador of Egypt to the United States, Motaz Zahran.

Zahran, was speaking at an event “Ambassador Insider Series: Egypt,” organized by The Washington Diplomat on July 20^th in Washington DC, where News India Times caught up with him to discuss India-Egypt relations.

“It’s a historic relationship. It is one that started way back when we formed the Non-Aligned Movement led by President of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, and President of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito. It was the pivot of the developing world. At the core of this was Egypt and India,” Zahran told News India Times.

NAM was formed by a group of developing countries led by India, Egypt, Yugoslavia, Ghana, and Indonesia that formally refused to align with the Eastern or Western blocks during the height of the Cold War.

Zahran who served at the Embassy of Egypt in New Delhi from 2001-2005, recollected, “I served in India before and these were the wonderful years where we’ve seen the extent of similarities in policies, culture, and history,” adding, “it is something that we’ve always taken pride in, and we made use of commonalities. When it comes to our film industries, both Egypt and India are beacons of culture, humanity, projection, and collaboration in different fields and domains.”

To a question about whether he would like to serve as the Egypt’s Ambassador to India someday, he answered, “absolutely. As the motto of India goes “Incredible India”. India is incredible.”

At the event, Zahran spoke to News Editor of The Washington Diplomat, Larry Luxner, on a range of topics including Egypt-US relations, Egypt’s peace efforts in the Middle East, the recently-concluded GCC Plus Three Summit in Saudi Arabia, climate change, and the effects of Russia-Ukraine war, and the pandemic on Egypt.