Tagore connects India and Egypt

India and Egypt share a long cultural association, the strongest connect being Rabindranath Tagore. He first visited Egypt as an adolescent in 1878 and later, as a famous poet-philosopher in 1926-27, when he met King Fouad of Egypt along with distinguished scholars in Alexandria and Cairo. The strong literary traditions of the nation impressed him and he apparently found great resonance in the intellectual movement of Egypt.  Significantly, during this visit Tagore formed a lifelong friendship with noted Egyptian poet Ahmad Shawky that lasted till the latter breathed his last.  On Shawky’s death, Tagore sent a moving eulogy in his memory thus further forging the ties between the nations.