Mukherjee leaves for Egypt on Tuesday

New Delhi: With the government readying for a parting of ways with the Left over the India-US nuclear deal, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee left for a two-day visit to Egypt today to hold wide ranging talks.

Mukherjee will hold talks with his counterpart Ahmad Abul Gheit on global issues like the WTO negotiations, the UN reforms and the peace process in Mideast as well as discuss a broad range of bilateral, regional and global issues, including the intensification of economic ties and cooperation.

Mukherjee's talks with Gheit will also set the stage for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's trip to India later this year.

With political uncertainty intensifying, Mukherjee, the ruling coalition's chief mediator with the Left, has decided to make a brief trip to Cairo. He will return to the Indian capital on Thursday.

Mukherjee's visit to Cairo comes at a time when top Indian companies like Essar, Reliance and the Tata group are readying for big investments in Egypt in sectors ranging from oil and gas to plastic and fertilisers.

Egypt's strategic location that makes it a gateway to the 20-country Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), the 27-nation European Union and the Arab Free Trade Area has been a major magnet for several globally ambitious Indian companies.

Bilateral trade between India and Egypt touched $2.2 billion (Dh8.1 billion) in 2006, which is close to China's nearly $3 billion (Dh11 billion) trade with Egypt. The two countries are eyeing an ambitious target of achieving $10 billion (Dh36.7 billion) bilateral trade by 2010.