New Delhi: India has extended an invitation to Egypt President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to be the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations in January 2023.

“At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, will be the Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations on January 26, 2023,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on Sunday.

This is the first time that the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt will be the Chief Guest at our Republic Day, it added.

India and Egypt enjoy warm and friendly relations based on civilizational and deep-rooted people-to-people ties. Both countries are celebrating the 75th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations this year, the ministry said.

India had not invited any foreign dignitary as the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Egypt has been invited as a ‘Guest Country’ during India’s Presidency of G-20 in 2022-23.

India will assume the G20 presidency from the current chair Indonesia on December 1.

G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies. It is the premier forum for international economic cooperation representing around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.

It comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union (EU).