US-Egypt Strategic Talks next week in Washington

The State Department has announced that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will host his Egyptian counterpart in Washington on November 8th and 9th.
According to the State Department, the two sides will discuss international and regional issues, human rights, and bilateral cooperation on economic, judicial, security, educational, and cultural issues.
“Egypt is a vital partner of the United States and we are committed to strengthening the 40-year partnership between the United States and Egypt by strengthening security cooperation, advancing human rights, and expanding our important economic and cultural ties,” the State Department said in a statement.
“This strategic dialogue is an opportunity to advance each of these areas of cooperation to improve the lives of Americans and Egyptians,” the statement said.
During their meeting on the sidelines of this year’s UN General Assembly, Blinken and Sameh Shukri agreed to launch bilateral strategic talks on regional issues, human rights, security co-operation and economic relations.
The two sides discussed regional issues, including Israeli-Palestinian relations, diplomatic efforts over Libya, Egypt’s leadership to host the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Conference, and the US willingness to participate in African Union-sponsored talks on the Ennahda Dam.
The strategic talks come as the Biden government announced in September that it was suspending $ 130 million in military aid to Egypt.
A State Department spokesman said in a statement that the secretary of state would pay $ 130 million if the Egyptian government responded positively to certain human rights conditions in the country.
Earlier, a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the Biden administration had agreed to provide $ 170 million in aid to Egypt, but that the rest would be $ 130 million until Egypt took positive human rights steps. If not, he will not pay, and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s move shows that he is distancing himself from the ministry’s previous policy and bypassing congressional oversight of military aid to Egypt.
In the past, there was an exception that $ 300 million of US foreign military funding was allocated to the government of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi because it was in the interest of US national security.
The United States has paid about $ 1.3 billion in foreign aid to Egypt annually since 2017, according to a congressional research report.
Since 2013, when al-Sisi took office, Egypt has seen the crackdown on dissidents, including the Muslim Brotherhood, but he denies the existence of political prisoners in Egypt, claiming that stability and security are his government’s top priorities.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch believe that the payment of $ 130 million to Egypt is conditional on Cairo’s efforts to enforce the rule of law and reforms that support fundamental freedoms, and that if the payment is not fully implemented, it will be a beacon. America’s green is for Egypt to continue violating human rights without fear of consequences.
The US Congress provides hundreds of millions of dollars in financial and military assistance to Egypt each year as a partner in regional security and trade.