Sayeed has had an extensive career as a diplomat, including serving as the Indian ambassador to Yemen and Saudi Arabia. He believes India and Egypt's partnership will allow the pursuit of cooperation in fields such as security, defense, economy, and political relations in a more focused manner.

Sayeed also shared that the Indian Prime Minister is eager to visit Egypt, and the Egyptian Health Minister is scheduled to visit India in June. Furthermore, he mentioned that Indian companies may be interested in investing in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE).

Ahram Online: How do you view bilateral relations between Egypt and India in the last few years and especially after President Abdelfattah El-Sisi's visit to New Delhi last January?
Ausaf Sayeed: The relations have been progressing very well, especially in the last couple of years. Last year we had serious visits from the Indian side, where the Indian Defense Minister, the Foreign Affairs Minister and the minister of forest and environment visited Egypt. On the other hand, the IT  Egyptian minister visited India, but most important of all was the visit of President El-Sisi to India to attend, upon the Indian Prime Minister's invitation, the Indian public day. The significance was that the two leaders upgraded relations to a strategic partnership, and opened opportunities for focused cooperation in security, defense, economy, and politics. Further consolidation will be vital.

AO: How can Indian investments in Egypt be further enhanced?
AS: The current Indian investment volume is $3.5 billion, and a further $800 million is in the pipeline.  Many of these investments are in the manufacturing sector and they have created about 38,000 jobs in Egypt. Also, there are further investments in the pipeline in the renewable energy sector.  Of course, one of the good proposals that has come out from the Egyptian side is to have Indian investments in the SCZONE, so we are looking at this and this will be very important, and this idea was presented during President El-Sisi's visit to India, with Indian companies. There were discussions about the SCZONE, so we will promote this to the business sector in India so that Indian companies can make use of this offer and this great opportunity.  

AO: How can we enhance cooperation in the field of renewable energy and green hydrogen? 
AS: Renewable energy is a very important field, as far as Indian companies are concerned three to four companies have expressed interest in this field of cooperation. Lately, they were signing an agreement for $18 billion for green hydrogen with Egypt, so I think there are great opportunities in this field as Egypt is a very suitable country for investing in renewable energy and we encourage that.

AO: Are there more visits coming from both sides?   
AS: There is a coming visit by the Egyptian ministry of health to India mid-June. It is a very important visit as healthcare and pharmaceuticals are very important sectors. Also, there will be a foreign ministers' meeting soon.

AO: Are there arrangements for a visit by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi?
AS: The Indian Prime Minister was supposed to visit Egypt in 2020 but unfortunately because of Corona many plans had to be changed. And when President El-Sisi was in Delhi he reextended the invitation and the Indian Prime Minister affirmed that he would like to visit Egypt soon. This year there are many things happening in India such as the Shanghai cooperation organisation meeting which will be held in July and then we have the G20 summit meeting in September. But the Indian Prime Minister is keen to visit Egypt. 

AO: How can both Egypt and India cooperate to decrease the negative economic effects of the Russian-Ukraine war?
AS: Both countries are cooperating in various fields like the food sector, wheat supplies, fertiliser supplies, and energy supplies, and all of this cooperative effort is to reduce the negative effect of the Russian-Ukraine war on the economy. India had limited wheat exports but upon Egypt's request as a friendly country, there was special permission given to export wheat to Egypt. Currently, we are negotiating Egyptian fertiliser exports to India in the coming future.

AO: Are there any plans to enhance cooperation in the pharmaceutical field between the two countries?
AS: I think this is one of the biggest areas of cooperation because India has been recognised globally as the pharmacy of the world. We have a lot of vaccine manufacturing not only COVID but also other vaccines, so I see possibilities for Egypt and India to join hands in the manufacturing of vaccine facilities. There are negotiations already taking place in this field and I think the visit of the Egyptian Health Minister to India in June will further discuss this cooperation. There could also be cooperation in the field of managing hospitals. 

AO: India took many steps forward in the field of IT, so will there be more cooperation in this field with Egypt?
AS: During the visit of the Egyptian  IT information technology minister there were several discussions about enhancing cooperation in that field, and also about startup companies. 

AO: India is currently the head of the G20 this year so how can it enable the south voice to be more heard during its presidency?
AS: India organised the voice of the south summit where almost 125 countries from the south were invited to try to understand from them their areas of concern. It was the first time for them and we listened to a lot of ideas from them that are very beneficial.