India and Egypt have signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate content exchange, capacity building, and co-productions between Indian pubcaster Prasar Bharati and National Media Authority of Egypt.

The pact was signed by Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of Information & Broadcasting and Sameh Hassan Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Egypt. The agreements were exchanged between the two countries in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of Egypt following the delegation level talks between the two sides in New Delhi.

According to an official Indian government statement, the agreement is part of the efforts by Prasar Bharati to expand the reach of Doordarshan India channel to showcase the country’s progress through programmes focussed on economy, technology, social development and cultural heritage.

Under the ambit of this pact, both the Indian and Egyptian national broadcasters will exchange programmes of different genres like sports, news, culture and entertainment on a bilateral basis and these programmes will be telecast on radio and television.

The pact, which will be valid for three years, will also facilitate co-productions and training of the officials of the national broadcasters from the two countries in the latest technologies.

Prasar Bharati currently has 39 memorandums of understanding with foreign broadcasters for cooperation and collaboration in the field of broadcasting. These MoUs provide for exchange of programmes with foreign broadcasters, apart from exploring co-production opportunities related to themes of mutual interest and knowledge sharing through training.