‘Kuwaiti-Egyptian ties deep-rooted’

Kuwaiti envoy hails Egyptian president’s visit to Kuwait

KUWAIT, Aug 29, (KUNA): Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will start an official visit to Kuwait on Saturday during which he will hold talks with His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber AlSabah at a time when bilateral relations are developing on various regional and Arab issues.

The visit of President El-Sisi comes within the framework of strengthening bilateral relations between Kuwait and Egypt to discuss ways of developing them in various fields, in addition to discussing the latest developments on the regional and international arenas and issues of common concern.

The Egyptian president’s visit to the country is his third since he assumed the presidency in June 2014 at a time when the history of the two countries has a long record of visits and official meetings between the leaders of the two countries over the past decades, which have cemented relations between the two sides at various levels.

Egypt was the first country to immediately recognize Kuwait, where the late Abdul Aziz Hussein handed over his credentials to President Gamal Abdel Nasser as the first ambassador of the State of Kuwait in Cairo on December 20, 1961 and only a few months later until Mohamed Mahmoud Abdel Aziz presented his credentials on March 19, 1962 to late Amir, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem AlSabah as the first ambassador of Egypt to Kuwait.

Relations

For decades, Kuwaiti-Egyptian relations were characterized by a distinct brotherly and popular character, but they became deeper during the plight of the Iraqi invasion of the country, when Egypt had harnessed all its potentials to support the just cause of Kuwait, and in a repeated scene, when Kuwait had stood firmly with Egypt in confronting the aggression of June 1967 and in October war of 1973.

And since the establishment of official diplomatic relations between the two countries after the independence of the State of Kuwait in 1961, relations between the two sides have started to grow steadily, as Cairo had received the late Amir Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah three times in 1964 at the Arab summits held in Cairo and Alexandria and the third in the Conference of Non-Aligned Movement Countries.

The late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah also visited Cairo several times during the period of Gamal Abdel Nasser’s presidency.

The late Amir was the last to bid farewell to Abdel Nasser after the Cairo Summit on September 28, 1970 at the airport to be the last leader to meet the Egyptian President before his death.

Visits

Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem also made several visits to Egypt during the period of the late President Anwar AlSadat to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries, in addition to another visit in 1976 to participate in the Arab Six-Party Summit, which was devoted to addressing the Lebanese crisis that erupted during that period. In this difficult period, Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem recorded honorable positions of the State of Kuwait in the 1967 and 1973 wars on the political, military and economic levels in support of the Arab position in general and Egypt in particular.

After Hosni Mubarak came to power in Egypt in 1981, he visited Kuwait four times before the Iraqi invasion in 1990.

The first visit was in 1987 to participate in the Islamic Summit Conference and the second in January 1988 after the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the third in February 1989 to participate in Kuwait’s National Day festivities.

The fourth was in July 1990 before the ordeal of the invasion. On the other hand, the late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah paid an official visit to Cairo in August 1989, where he received an official and popular reception.

After the liberation of the country from the invasion, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was one of the first leaders to visit Kuwait to congratulate the leadership on the liberation and to emphasize the depth of historical relations between the two countries.

Late Amir Sheikh Jaber AlAhmad paid numerous visits to Cairo and Alexandria to foster such strong bilateral ties. Since His Highness Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah came to power in the country, KuwaitiEgyptian relations have been strengthened further, both bilaterally and on the Arab level. His Highness and President Mubarak continued exchanging of consultations and meetings, most notably Mubarak’s visit to Kuwait in 2009 when the country hosted the Arab Economic, Social and Development Summit.

His Highness the Amir continued the series of reciprocal visits. In 2013, he met with interim President Adly Mansour, and then attended the inauguration of Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as President of Egypt in June 2014, while the latter officially visited Kuwait for the first time in 2015. In 2015, His Highness the Amir visited Egypt three times in 2015 to attend Egypt’s Economic Development Conference, the 26th Arab Summit of the League of Arab States and the opening ceremony of the new Suez Canal.

Delegation

February 2019, His Highness headed the Kuwaiti delegation to the first Arab-European Summit in Sharm El Sheikh.

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s Ambassador to Egypt Mohammad Al-Thuwaikh welcomed Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi’s visit to Kuwait and praised the deeply-rooted relations shared between Egypt and Kuwait, said a statement on Thursday.

The upcoming visit of Egyptian President next Saturday comes to answer an invitation extended by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, which points out the historical and brotherly relations between two countries Al-Thuwaikh told KUNA in a statement. Egyptian President’s visit to Kuwait aims to further boost established relations and discuss the security of region, he added.