US and Egypt agree to strategic dialogue for major issues

The US and Egypt have agreed to have strategic dialogue on major issues, a spokesman for the State Department in Washington has announced. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry made the decision on the fringe of the UN General Assembly in New York yesterday.

According to spokesman Ned Price, Blinken and Shoukry discussed regional issues, including Israeli-Palestinian relations, diplomatic efforts to help Libya and Egypt’s leadership in founding the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum. They also expressed a mutual desire for results-oriented negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam under the auspices of the African Union.

Both the US and Egypt place a high value on strengthening and deepening a partnership that is responsive to the full range of issues in the bilateral relationship, said Price. “Secretary Blinken has explained that such a strengthened partnership would be facilitated by steps from the Government of Egypt to improve its protection of human rights, including by implementing measures in the National Strategy on Human Rights launched by the Egyptian government last week.”

Other subjects to be covered by US-Egypt dialogue include human rights, security cooperation and economic relations.

READ: Egypt, Israel agree to boost stability in the region