Who is Abdel Fattah El Sisi, Egyptian President invited as chief guest for Republic Day celebrations?

New Delhi: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is set to be the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations in India. Both countries are completing 75 years of diplomatic relations between them while India is celebrating the Amrit Mahotsav, this made India invite the Egyptian President to the celebrations on January 26. When PM Modi invited Abdel Fattah El Sisi, the invitation was well received.

The diplomatic relations between India and Egypt began just three days after India’s independence and PM Modi has invited Egypt as a guest to strengthen the ties. This is the first time that an Egyptian President will be the Chief Guest on Republic Day.

Who is Abdel Fattah El Sisi?

El Sisi was a military officer who took the office as a de facto leader in 2013 while he was elected as the President of Egypt in 2014. He has been the youngest member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) in Egypt. When the rebellion was led against Morsi in the summer of 2013, Sisi gave an ultimatum and finally, the military arrested him.

Adly Mansour was made the President while the then defence minister Sisi was the one governing the state. When Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood protested against the military coup, hundreds of men were killed.

In 2014, Sisi beat the leftist leader Hamdeen Sabahi to win the Presidential elections. He led Egypt to an economic recovery while being criticised for human rights violations.

In April 2018, he was elected for the second time to the President’s office by winning 97% of the votes in the elections. In 2021 he transferred the pharaonic mummies to the new Grand Egyptian Museum replacing the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.