(This story originally appeared in on Oct 15, 2015)

NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi 's neighbourhood outreach may be under scrutiny but he continues to spring surprises from lands far and wide. In a huge boost for the 3rd India-Africa Summit Forum , which will be held here later this month, Egypt's powerful and controversial President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has confirmed his attendance for the summit.The confirmation follows a meeting between Modi and Sisi in New York last month which the PM used to reiterate India's invite to the former chief of Egypt's armed forces who captured power in 2013 riding a wave of popular protests against elected President Mohammed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.With the kind of influence Egypt has not just in northern Africa but also the Arab world, India was keen that the country be represented by none other than Sisi himself. Straddling the Suez Canal , Egypt is also the most populous Arab country. It is significant for India that under Sisi, Egypt's relations with Israel too have improved greatly.Sisi was earlier unsure about coming himself and had agreed to send a representative but seems to have changed his mind after his meeting with Modi. Sisi's presence in India will be remarable also because he will be here days after the end of long overdue parliamentary elections in Egypt on October 23. The Africa Summit will take place October 26-29.Sisi's support to anti-Islamic State coalitions in Syria and Libya have brought him closer to the West despite the fact that, ruling by decree, he has pulverized all opposition to his presidency within the country.Despite his preoccupation with Bihar elections, Modi will find time not just for the summit meet but also bilateral meetings with all heads of state and government who have confirmed their participation. The number of leaders attending is now over 50, the largest number of foreign leaders to assemble on Indian soil after the NAM meet in 1983. India had invited all 54 African countries for the summit.Months before he was ousted in a coup by Sisi, Islamist Morsi too had visited India in 2013. Morsi was keen that India help Egypt become a member of BRICS, saying the grouping could then be known as e-BRICS. Morsi has now been sentenced to death in a move some see as politically motivated.