Last month’s visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Egypt, on the heels of his trip to Washington, was the latest move in a rapidly warming relationship between the two countries. A few months before, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had been the key guest at India’s 74th Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi — the first Egyptian head of state to be accorded that honor. Apart from “ensuring continuing momentum” in the relationship, according to an Indian foreign ministry spokesperson, both countries are keen to expand their bilateral economic engagement.
India, which currently hosts the G20, has already pledged to invite Egypt to the group’s next meeting in New Delhi. There are also whispers of Egypt possibly being a step closer to potential BRICS membership. While the deepening relationship is clearly important for both countries, it’s also a sign of a larger shift in geostrategic alliances. What does this new landscape mean for emerging economies and for the developing nations that have long taken the status quo for granted? The Middle East Institute (MEI) is pleased to invite you to join an expert panel to discuss this question and more.
Speakers
Amb. (ret.) Navdeep Suri
Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation
Mohammed Soliman
Director, Strategic Technologies and Cyber Security Program, Middle East Institute
Mirette F. Mabrouk, moderator
Senior Fellow; Founding Director of the Egypt Program, Middle East Institute
Additional panelists to be announced.
Detailed Speaker Biographies
Mirette F. Mabrouk is an MEI Senior Fellow and founding director of the Institute’s Egypt Studies program. She was previously Deputy Director and Director for Research and Programs at the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East at the Atlantic Council. Formerly a fellow at the Project for U.S. Relations with the Middle East at the Brookings Institution, Mabrouk moved to D.C. from Cairo, where she was director of communications for the Economic Research Forum (ERF). Before being appointed associate director for publishing operations at The American University in Cairo Press, Mabrouk had over 20 years of experience in both print and television journalism. She is the founding publisher of The Daily Star Egypt, (now The Daily New Egypt), at the time, the country’s only independent English-language daily newspaper, and the former publishing director for IBA Media, which produces the region’s top English-language magazines.
Amb. (ret.) Navdeep Suri is a Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. He has had a 36-year-long career in the Indian Foreign Service: he served in India’s diplomatic missions in Cairo, Damascus, Washington, Dar es Salaam, and London. He was also India’s Consul General in Johannesburg, High Commissioner to Australia, and Ambassador to Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. He also headed West Africa and Public Diplomacy departments in India’s Ministry of External Affairs.
Mohammed Soliman is the director of the Strategic Technologies and Cyber Security program at the Middle East Institute, where he leads a global team of scholars to explore the policy challenges associated with the intersection of technology, geopolitics and business in the Middle East and emerging markets more broadly. He is also a visiting fellow with the National Security Program at Third Way. He has additionally served as a country analyst for the Peace Tech Lab at the U.S. Institute of Peace, as a Huffington Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, and as a Junior Centennial Fellow at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service. A native of Cairo, Soliman began his career as an engineer and worked as a consultant, providing strategic advisory services for local and international businesses.