President El-Sisi receives US Defense Secretary Austin in Cairo on 8 March 2023. Egyptian Presidency
The president's remarks came during a meeting with Austin and an accompanying delegation in Cairo on Wednesday.
The meeting was attended by Minister of Defence and Military Production General Mohamed Zaki and US Chargé d’Affaires in Egypt Daniel Rubinstein.
According to a statement by the Spokesman for the Presidency Ahmed Fahmy, El-Sisi emphasised to Austin Egypt’s commitment to further intensifying cooperation and coordination between the two countries in an array of areas, particularly in the military and security fields, given their importance in reinforcing efforts to restore security and stability and consolidate peace in the Middle East region.
From his side, Austin reaffirmed to El-Sisi that his country holds the Egyptian leadership in high esteem and highly appreciates Egypt’s key role in the Middle East as a rational and responsible stabilising force.
He stressed the US commitment to further advancing and strengthening cooperation and the strategic partnership with Egypt, particularly their defence cooperation, which constitutes a fundamental cornerstone in the two countries’ relations.
The meeting focused on a number of regional and international issues.
President El-Sisi reiterated the need to exert intensive international efforts so as to achieve calm in the Palestinian territories and halt unilateral measures and escalation.
El-Sisi stressed that a two-state solution, according to the relevant references of international legitimacy, is considered the pathway toward achieving just and comprehensive peace for the benefit of the peoples of the region.
The meeting also touched on efforts to reinforce peace and stability at the international level, in light of the successive global crises, which cast shadow on the various countries around the world.
Austin's Cairo visit on Wednesday is the third stop in his Middle East tour which included Jordan and Iraq before departing for Israel, according to AP.
It also comes a few days after the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley’s unannounced visit to Israel on Friday to discuss “regional security challenges'' at a time of heightened tensions with Iran and its allies across the Middle East, where he met with senior Israeli military and intelligence leaders at an air base in southern Israel and held a video conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel’s visit was a day ahead of Milley’s snap visit to Syria on Saturday, where he met US troops stationed in areas of war-torn Syria under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Austin's visit comes amid growing clashes between the Israeli forces and Palestinians over Israel’s repeated deadly raids in the West Bank and its continued demolition of Palestinian homes there.
The latest raid was carried out on Tuesday on the Jenin refugee camp, which left a number of Palestinians killed and wounded.
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