The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin AbdulAziz announced the inauguration of a bridge project linking north western Saudi Arabia to the Sinai Peninsula at a historic Saudi – Egyptian summit in Cairo yesterday. The Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi named the structure “King Salman Bridge”. Meanwhile, the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who is also the Second Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence signed an agreement with Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail to demarcate the sea borders of both countries. This agreement was one of 17 signed yesterday.
At the beginning of the historic meeting held at the Heliopolis Palace, President El-Sisi awarded the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques with the Collar of the Nile, Egypt’s highest state honour. King Salman stressed that his visit to Egypt aims to strengthen the close and historic ties between the two countries which will serve the two peoples through closer mutual cooperation and supporting the peace and security of the two countries.
In a speech that he gave, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques said “We are proud of the accomplishments we have achieved on all levels which made us live today in a new Arab and Muslim reality based on alliances. We have united against the meddling attempts in our internal affairs, refused compromising the security and stability of Yemen and the coup d’etat against its legitimate government.” He continued by saying that “The establishment of a Muslim military alliance to fight terrorism testifies to our solidarity; this alliance consists of 39 countries and is the strongest in the recent history of our nation. In the past few days we have announced to the world through the military exercises of “Raad Ash-shamal” that our strength lies in our unity. The Arab Republic of Egypt, as always, was one of the first to actively participate in such alliances.”
On his part, President El-Sisi said: “We are adding a brick to the edifice of Egyptian-Saudi relations and forming a new chapter together that will go down in history and that will be remembered by future generations.”
King Salman and President El-Sisi attended a signing ceremony during which 17 agreements and memoranda of understanding between the two countries regarding various issues were signed. Most observers, economists and politicians believe that these agreements will strengthen the joint power of the two countries and make bilateral relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia more modern and sustainable. They also believe that the regional and international situation calls for greater solidarity between Arab countries, especially between the two countries that lead the Arab nation; Egypt and Saudi Arabia.