India and Egypt today discussed opportunities to expand cooperation in key areas such as trade and reaffirmed that bilateral relations were "very strong" and wide in scope having great potential for expansion.
"Last year, India and Egypt had concluded a G to G (government to government) agreement for supply of rice to Egypt at a friendship price," India's Ambassador to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya said.
Bhattacharyya today met with Egyptian Minister for Supply and Internal Trade Supply Ali El Moselhy to discuss opportunities for expansion of bilateral cooperation.
During the meeting, the Egyptian minister recalled "India's great assistance" on that occasion and noted that the "bilateral relations were very strong and wide in scope with great potential for expansion", the Indian envoy said.
This G to G agreement was a path-breaking development achieved after several decades and was recognised in the joint statement between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi during the latter's state visit to India last year, Bhattacharyya said.
"There are many opportunities for expanding this (cooperation) to other items such as tea, sugar, wheat, oils among others," the Indian Ambassador told PTI.
Bhattacharyya said the economic situation in the two countries have similarities with need to address requirements of the poor through government organised distribution systems.
There are also policy issues such as subsidies and subsidy targeting on which both sides can exchange experiences.
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