Columbus Mabika-Herald Reporter
EGYPT and Russia yesterday reignited their commitment to working with Zimbabwe to develop its defence capabilities to counter contemporary threats, including the climate change crisis plaguing natural disasters and to align inter-agency security strategies to sustain peace and security across the globe.
This came out yesterday when the two countries’ ambassadors paid independent courtesy calls to Minister of Defence, Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri in the capital.
The meetings came after a delegation from Armed Forces of Egypt last week visited Zimbabwe to explore opportunities in a number of dams to cooperate in the areas of fisheries in the country, while Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri was also in Moscow for a number of high-level defence meetings.
Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri said the two countries have played a crucial role in the development of Zimbabwe since the pre independence era.
“This meeting was very critical. As you may recall, Zimbabwe and Egypt signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in the areas of fisheries. They went to Kariba. And Masvingo and other areas, and this really demonstrates that we are serious. Now we want that agreement to be now fully implemented,” she said.
“It will create jobs, particularly, as the President emphasises, on Vision 2030 and in NDS1, which has transitioned into NDS2. It’s food security the area of fisheries is our number one project.”
“Peace and security are what we pray for, and she also emphasised on the need now that Zimbabwe will be a non-permanent member within the Security Council, that the issue of dialogue, the issue of peace and security will take precedence and Zimbabwe will push for it. They supported Zimbabwe, and we appreciate we were friends during the struggle, and we remain friends.”
She said Zimbabwe would emulate Egypt’s infrastructure development path which was spearheaded by its armed forces in the construction of the new city at Mount Hampden.
“But you know very well that whatever has been constructed in Egypt is through the defence forces, so we were exploring how best we can now put together another MOU so that we can cooperate in the area of construction”, she said.
This comes as the Zimbabwe Defence forces recently commissioned its own construction company to compliment national infrastructure development.
Turning to Russia, she said the country supports Zimbabwe.
“They supported us even when illegal sanctions were imposed. They used their veto power for the first time on Zimbabwe to block Zimbabwe and protect Zimbabwe from the UN imposing legal sanctions on Zimbabwe. So, we continue relying on their friendship, even as we participate in the Security Council, that we will all be together and exchanging notes at that level to make sure there is peace and security within the international community,” she said.
Egyptian Ambassador, Dr Maha Serag El-Din Moustafa Kamel said Zimbabwe has been a dependable partner for development.
“Well, today I had the honour of meeting the Honourable Minister of Defence, and it was an excellent opportunity to discuss the potential of bilateral cooperation with Zimbabwe in several important sectors, especially in the infrastructure sector, among other many important sectors.
“Of course, our bilateral relations date back to before independence, so it dates back to the 1960s, and we are keen on furthering this bilateral relation and taking it to a new level,” she said.
Russian Federation Ambassador Sergei Berdnikov said his country is looking forward to cooperation in various spheres.
“We will have our joint work within the Security Council when the Republic of Zimbabwe assumes a non-permanent seat in the next year.
“And we’re also looking forward to our collaboration in the military sphere, in emergency response, everything concerned. And every high technology we have, we will share with our Zimbabwean friends,” he said.
