French President Emmanuel Macron and Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi (R) attend a working session on 'G7 Partnership with Africa' in Biarritz, south-west France on August 25, 2019, on the second day of the annual G7 Summit attended by the leaders of the world's seven richest democracies, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. (Photo: AFP)
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron agreed to combine joint efforts to preserve Libyan national institutions and reach a settlement to the conflict in the country.
During a meeting between the two presidents on Monday on the sidelines of the G7 summit meetings held in the French coastal city of Biarritz, El-Sisi and Macron exchanged views on a number of regional issues and discussed enhancing bilateral partnership and consultations on issues of mutual interests.
"The French president praised his Egyptian counterpart's participation in the G7 summit, as well as the cultural bonds and bilateral relations binding the people of Egypt and France," Egypt's presidential spokesperson said in a statement.
The two leaders stressed the necessity of reaching a settlement in Libya in a way that eradicates terrorism and limits foreign interference in the country.
El-Sisi and Macron also discussed efforts to revive the Middle East peace process and countering terrorism, extremism and illegal migration.
"The French president expressed keenness on maintaining consultation with Egypt on enhancing strategic cooperation mechanisms on regional and international issues of mutual interest," the spokesperson said.
The Egyptian president hailed the historical Egyptian-French relations.
"The meeting discussed ways of enhancing economic relations and French-African relations , especially within Egypt's chairmanship to the African Union," the spokesperson added.
President El-Sisi arrived in Biarritz on Saturday to participate in the G7 Summit upon an invitation from President Macron.
The Egyptian president held a range of meetings to discuss bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues on the sidelines of the summit with a number of world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conti.
The Egyptian president also met with a number of African leaders including the presidents of Senegal, Rwanda, South Africa and Burkina Faso and the head of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki.
On Monday, the Egyptian president took part in a working session on climate, biological diversity and oceans.
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