New Delhi, Nov. 12: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will make a long-awaited trip to Delhi for his first meeting with an Indian Prime Minister since 1997.

Mubarak will be here for two days from November 16, when he will receive the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding that was conferred on him way back in 1995.

There have been 20 high-level visits from both sides since 2004 — a sign of the warmth the two countries have shared since the Nehru era.

India’s first Prime Minister had signed a friendship treaty with Egypt’s then President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1955, one of main factors that led to the Non-Alignment Movement the same year.

Nehru’s grandson continued the bond and the summit-level meetings gained frequency. Rajiv Gandhi flew to Cairo when he was Prime Minister as did his successors, P.V. Narasimha Rao and I.K. Gujral. Mubarak came to India in 1982 and 1983.

Between 1955 and 2008, the two countries have signed some 14 agreements.

Asked why Mubarak took so long to pay India a visit, Egyptian ambassador to India Mohammed Higzay said: “Like the Indian leadership, Egypt, too, embarked on economic reforms and the President was busy with that. However, India has a special place in the heart and mind of every Israeli.”

According to sources in the Indian foreign ministry, “it was a matter of scheduling the meeting at a mutually convenient time”.