Defense Min. Leaves for Washington for Cooperation Talks

Egyptian Minister of Defense and Military Production General Mohamed Zaki left for Washington on Saturday with a high-level delegation for cooperation talks.

Zaki’s visit to the US comes upon an official invitation extended by his American counterpart Mark Esper.

The duo is scheduled to hold bilateral talks to discuss a number of issues and files of common interest with a view of enhancing mutual relations and military cooperation between the two countries.

It is noteworthy that senior delegations from Egypt and the US met on March 20-22 in Washington, D.C., for the 31st meeting of the Military Cooperation Committee (MCC).

The MCC is the premier bilateral defense forum for coordinating defense cooperation, identifying shared security objectives, and consulting on a wide array of strategic issues.

The delegations discussed a broad range of defense issues, including counterterrorism, border and maritime security, security assistance, and security cooperation.

Egypt and The U.S. remain committed to a strong bilateral relationship built on common interests and mutual respect. The defense relationship has served as one of the key foundations of the broader strategic partnership for nearly forty years, and the MCC reflects the mutual commitment to cooperation and consultation based on shared priorities.

Specific discussions will focus on ways to increase cooperation on counter-terrorism and border and maritime security issues. Both sides hailed exercise Bright Star as a pillar of the military-to-military relationship and committed to continuing and expanding these efforts.

For decades, relations between Egypt and the US have been grounded in a mutual commitment to advancing peace, prosperity and stability in the Middle East.

Having first established diplomatic relations in 1922, following Egypt’s independence from protectorate status under the United Kingdom, the Egypt-U.S. strategic partnership was born out of the 1979 Camp David Accords and has endured successfully throughout the nearly 40 years since.

As strategic economic and security partners, Egypt and the United States have engaged in ongoing collaborative efforts to expand commercial ties, increase foreign direct investment, ensure safe transit through the Suez Canal, modernize the Egyptian military and fight terrorism.

Today, the Egypt-U.S. partnership is critical not only to the stability of the Middle East and North Africa, but also as a bulwark against global terrorism and violent extremism. The inauguration of the Egypt-U.S. Strategic Dialogue in 2015 and President El Sisi’s inaugural visit Washington, DC in 2017 represented new milestones in our partnership and, importantly, broadened the ties between our nations.

Grounded in a common understanding that forging solutions to persistent challenges in the Middle East requires continuing and further strengthening cooperation between our nations. Egypt has long been among the United States’ most reliable and influential allies. The country's regional leadership, skilled and educated population and geo-strategic location render it an invaluable partner in advancing a broad range of mutual interests.

The Egypt-U.S. partnership involves much more than cooperation between security establishments. It is a meaningful, functioning alliance on a range of issues that extend to the highest levels of our governments, to both sides's commercial relations with the private sector and people-to-people exchanges that take place among students, tourists and expatriates throughout both countries.