Modi to visit Al-Hakim mosque, pay tribute to martyred Indian soldiers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his first Egypt tour, will visit the 11th-century Al-Hakim mosque and will also pay tribute to the Indian soldiers who died fighting for Egypt during the First World War, said Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Monday. The Foreign Secretary made these remarks while addressing a special briefing on Prime Minister’s upcoming visit to US and Egypt. PM Modi will make a State visit to Egypt on June 24 and 25. Kwatra said, “It is worth mentioning here that this will be Prime Minister’s first visit to Egypt and I might also mention that this would be the first official bilateral visit of the Indian Prime Minister to Egypt since 1997.” He added that there have been visits in between, but they have mostly been for multilateral or plurilateral events. Kwatra also said that PM Modi upon reaching Cairo on June 24 will first meet with the India unit, a select unit of high-level ministers that the President of Egypt had constituted after his return from India. “Most recently, the Egyptian president had paid a state visit to India when he graced our Republic Day earlier in the year as the chief guest. At this stage, the prime Minister is expected to reach Cairo in the afternoon of June 24 where where his first interaction will be with the India unit,” the Foreign Secretary said.