Egypt’s president gives highest honor to visiting Indian prime minister amid improving ties

By SAMY MAGDY
Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) — President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt has bestowed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Egypt’s highest honor as the two nations tightened their partnership. El-Sissi welcomed Modi Sunday morning in Cairo at the presidential palace and awarded the visiting prime minister the Order of the Nile, Egypt’s highest state honor. The leaders signed a declaration that elevated Egyptian-Indo ties to a “strategic partnership.” Modi arrived in Cairo Saturday. He is the first Indian prime minister to pay a state visit to Egypt in more than two decades. His two-day stop came six months after el-Sissi was in New Delhi as an official guest at India’s Independence Day.