The scions of ruling political families in India and Egypt — Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s son Gamal Mubarak — met here on Thursday to discuss bilateral cooperation. They also reviewed the situation in the Middle East and South Asia.

AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi, 39, also deliberated on issues of social development and programmes for alleviating poverty. Gamal (46), who is widely tipped to succeed his father, is the Assistant Secretary General and Policies Secretary in the Egyptian National Democratic Party (NDP).

Ways to enhance Indo-Egyptian ties and mitigating the fallout of the global economic crisis, especially in developing states, came up during the meeting that was also attended by Egyptian Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali, sources said.

The two leaders discussed programmes on realising social development, combating poverty, and improving the standard of education in the two countries. They also reviewed the situation in the Middle East and South Asia and deliberated on ways to achieve peace and stability in the two regions.

Gandhi is visiting Egypt at the invitation of the NDP, which held its annual conference from October 31 to November 2.

On Wednesday, Gandhi had met Arab League chief Amr Musa and discussed the current political situation in the Middle East and South Asia, including Indo-Pak ties.

The two leaders discussed the recent developments in Palestine and Israel, the Obama Administration’s stand on the issue and the two-state solution, a statement issued by the Arab League said.