Lieutenant General Osama Askar, Chief-of-Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces, met last week Lieutenant General Manoj Pande, Commander of the Indian Army (photo), and his accompanying delegation, who was on an official visit to Egypt that lasted for several days.
The meeting dealt with ways to support military cooperation relations, prospects for joint cooperation, transfer and exchange of experiences between the Egyptian and Indian Armed Forces, the Egyptian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The Egyptian Chief-of-Staff affirmed his pride in the military relations with India and the keenness of the General Command of the Armed Forces to increase aspects of cooperation and partnership in various military fields.
For his part, Lieutenant General Manoj Pande, Commander of the Indian Army, affirmed his country's keenness to enhance support for prospects of military cooperation with Egypt during the next stage and its deep appreciation for the efforts of the Egyptian Armed Forces in all fields.
The meeting was attended by a number of the Armed Forces leaders of both countries.
Meanwhile, and within the framework of supporting and strengthening military cooperation and relations with friendly countries, the Egyptian and Indian Air Forces carried out a joint air exercise at an Egyptian air base earlier this month.
The training included implementation of a number of joint drills, including training on aerial refueling, which contributes to the exchange of training experiences between the elements participating from both sides.
In another development, General Mohamed Zaki, Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces, Minister of Defense and Military Production, witnessed the implementation of the main phase of the specialized command centers exercise of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority (Sharaf-2), which lasted for several days, within the framework of the Armed Forces annual training plan.
Lieutenant General Osama Askar, Chief-of-Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces, leaders of the main branches and a number of leaders of the Armed Forces, attended the event.
Major General Ahmed Al-Azazy, Commander of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority, delivered a speech in which he thanked the General Command of the Armed Forces for the given support to the Engineering Authority to maintain permanent combat readiness and high technical competence, so that they can efficiently achieve all assigned tasks.
The phase included presenting a summary of the exercise idea as well as reports from various levels, which showed the extent of preparation and high combat readiness for all participating elements.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Minister of Defense and Military Production, conveyed the greetings and appreciation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and his pride in the effort made by the Armed Forces Engineering Authority personnel. He also discussed a number of leaders and officers participating in the exercise in the manner of executing their tasks, how they make decisions to face abrupt changes during operations management, and how well they mastered them according to their different specializations.
General Mohamed Zaki praised the outstanding performance and high morale of the forces participating in the exercise, pointing out the importance of maintaining the highest levels of readiness and benefiting from everything new in the fields of science and technology, which contributes to enhancing the Armed Forces specialized systems.
He further stressed that the Armed Forces is able to protect the homeland and preserve its sanctities, with its advanced armament system in all different fields, and it has professional fighters who are able to carry out all tasks under various circumstances.
