Cairo (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi here and discussed ways to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries with a focus on improving trade and investments, energy ties and people-to-people connect.

El-Sisi welcomed Modi, who is on a two-day state visit to Egypt, at the Presidential Palace where the two leaders were closeted for one-on-one meeting.

Modi arrived here on Saturday afternoon after a successful visit to the US.

On Saturday, Modi met Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly-led India Unit, a group of high-level ministers constituted by El-Sisi to improve the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

El-Sisi was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi this year when he and Modi decided to elevate the bilateral relationship to the level of strategic partnership.

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Rudrapur (Uttarakhand) (PTI): An elderly Muslim man was allegedly assaulted by some people and forced to chant religious slogans after he offered namaz on a vacant land in front of a temple here, police said on Tuesday.

A video of the incident is doing the rounds on social media. In the video, the accused are seen thrashing the man with sticks and hurling abuses at him.

The man, Shahid, a resident of the Resham Bari area, offered namaz during the ongoing month of Ramzan in front of the Atriya Temple in Jagatpura.

Shahid said he has been working near the temple for several days and claimed that the land where he offered namaz is quite far from the temple.

After learning about the incident, members of the Muslim community accompanied Shahid to the local police station and filed a complaint.

They claimed that one of the accused has been convicted in a murder case and currently out on parole.

Temple manager Arvind Sharma said activities associated with any other religion will not be tolerated on the temple land, even if a case is filed against him.

Police reached the spot and appealed to both communities to maintain peace.

Shahid is undergoing a medical examination. Further legal action will be taken based on the complaint, police said.

Municipal Councillor Parvez Qureshi termed the incident unacceptable.

"This matter is extremely serious. Assaulting a person is unacceptable. If anyone had any objection (to namaz being offered), the administration should have been informed. We demand an impartial investigation and strict action against the culprits to avoid a repeat of such incidents in the future," he said.

Congress leader Sofia Naz said the incident is detrimental to social harmony.

"Maintaining law and order in the state is the responsibility of the state government. Violence and forced chanting of slogans in the name of religion are against the spirit of the Constitution. The administration should take immediate action and provide justice to the victim," Naz said.