President El-Sisi Meets the U.S. Secretary of State in Washington D.C.

Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in Washington, D.C.

The Spokesman for the Presidency said the U.S. Secretary of State welcomed President El-Sisi’s visit to Washington, D.C., which comes to further strengthen relations between the two countries and their peoples in a positive and constructive manner. He emphasized the American administration’s commitment to fostering closer cooperation with Egypt in an array of fields and to supporting Egypt’s relentless efforts to realize peace, security and development in the region.

During their meeting, the two sides exchanged views with regard to African issues, in light of the U.S.- Africa Leaders Summit. President El-Sisi confirmed that the African continent needs a fully-fledged continental infrastructure that supports the implementation of efforts and initiatives targeting African countries. He added that this shall take place through a large-scale international project that mobilizes the resources and support of major countries and global development expertise to develop a comprehensive vison for this infrastructure that is inevitable for the success of development efforts in the continent.

The meeting also discussed a number of regional issues of mutual interest, particularly the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam dossier. President El-Sisi reiterated Egypt’s adherence to the application of the relevant principles of international law, and therefore the necessity to reach a legally-binding agreement on the filling rules and operation of the dam, so as to preserve Egypt’s water security without prejudice to the flow of water in the Nile River, on the banks of which the old civilization known to mankind was established thousands of years ago. Secretary Blinken underscored his country’s support for efforts toward solving this issue in a manner that achieves the interests of all parties and considers the paramount importance of the Nile water to Egypt.

The two sides expressed mutual commitment to strengthening and further promoting the longstanding strategic partnership between Egypt and the U.S., which constitutes a fundamental pillar to maintaining security and stability in the Middle East region. They both looked forward to boosting coordination and consultations in the coming period on various political and security issues of common interest.