India to set up IT centre in Egypt's Al Azhar University

India will be establishing a Centre of Excellence in Information Technology (CEIT) at Al Azhar University, Egypt's highest religious authority and one of the world's most eminent seats of Sunni Muslim learning, officials have said.

All the equipment and course material has reached Egypt and premises are being prepared for CIET, which will provide high-tech education and skills to the country's youth, India's Ambassador to Egypt, Sanjay Bhattacharyya, said.

Bhattacharya also visited the Al-Azhar Observatory yesterday where he was briefed about its activities and role in fighting extremism.


"I was impressed with the work at Al Azhar Observatory. It was set up to monitor growing radicalism and extremism, particularly among the youth, often leading to violence and terrorism," he told PTI.

The envoy also lauded the institution, which works in multiple languages, for tackling extremism with a counter narrative based on Al Azhar's moderate philosophy.

Al Azhar has also shown flexibility in its outreach to make its message more user-friendly and targeted, he said.

A Fatwa centre answers questions from the public, Bhattacharya said and remarked: "a digital response in a digital world."