New Delhi: In Egypt on a two-day visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Al-Hakim Mosque in the capital city of Cairo today.
“Honored to visit the historic Al-Hakim Mosque in Cairo. It’s a profound testament to Egypt’s rich heritage and culture,” Modi tweeted.
This visit holds special significance for India as the mosque has been restored with the help of India’s Dawoodi Bohra community, the Egyptian government’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has said.
The project to restore the 11-century mosque was completed around three months ago.
The Dawoodi Bohra community are practitioners of Islam, have roots in Gujarat and are considered a significant support base for the Bharatiya Janata Party, Mint has noted in its report.
India’s Ambassador to Egypt, Ajit Gupte, has meanwhile been quoted by Times of India as having said that the “prime minister has a very close attachment to the Bohra community who have also been in Gujarat for many years.”
In February, Modi had said after attending the inauguration of the Dawoodi Bohra community’s Saifee Academy in Mumbai that he had gone not as the prime minister but as a “family member”.
In 2018, according to Indian Express, Modi had called the Dawoodi Bohra community “patriotic” and said the community has always been committed to peace, goodwill and insistence on truth.
Modi’s ties with the community are at odds with the domestic climate in India, where laws, policies and administrations are seen to have taken a distinct anti-Muslim turn under Modi. Minority rights are largely understood to have taken a beating. This was also the subject of the first question fielded by Modi from a reporter in nine years, during his state visit the US.
Modi’s is the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Egypt in 26 years.