Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi stressed while holding talks in Cairo with Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva the need to strengthen international efforts to prevent the use of the internet for spreading extremist ideas, a statement from his office said on Monday.

"The president stressed on the importance of adopting a clear perspective for combating terrorism that includes developmental, cultural and religious dimensions along with military and security aspects," the statement read.

This is not the first time that El-Sisi has argued that the internet needs to be prevented from being used by extremists to spread ideas.

Last month when he held a meeting with Kuwait’s Justice Minister Yacoub Abdel Mohsen Al Saneain in Cairo, El-Sisi said it was necessary to curb “terrorists’ use of social media and electronic websites to promote extremist ideas and attract new members.”  

During his visit to Egypt, Foreign Minister Augustos Santos Silva passed on a message to El-Sisi from Portuguese President Marcelo de Sousa inviting him to Portugal and his view on the importance of developing bilateral relations between the two countries, the statement from the Egyptian president’s office read.