New Delhi, Jan 29 (PTI) India will host a crucial meeting of foreign ministers of Arab nations on Saturday with an aim to boost two-way engagement in the areas of economy, energy, education and culture.
The prevailing situation in the Middle-East is also likely to come up for extensive discussions at the meeting.
The second India-Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is taking place after a gap of 10 years. The first meeting was held in Bahrain in 2016.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the gathering will see the participation of foreign ministers, ministers of state, other ministers and senior officials of 22 Arab countries.
The second India-Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting will be preceded by the fourth India-Arab senior officials’ meeting on Friday.
“India will host the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (IAFMM) on January 31. The meeting will be co-chaired by India and the UAE,” the MEA said, “The foreign ministers of other Arab League member states and the Arab League secretary general will participate in the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting,” it said in a statement.
At the first foreign ministers’ meeting of 2016, the ministers had identified five priority verticals of cooperation: economy, energy, education, media and culture, and proposed a set of activities across these verticals.
“The second India-Arab FMM is expected to build on our existing cooperation, expanding and deepening this partnership,” the MEA said.
The India Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is the highest institutional mechanism driving the partnership, which was formalised in March 2002 when India and the League of Arab States (LAS) signed an agreement institutionalising the process of dialogue.
A memorandum of cooperation was signed for the establishment of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum during the visit of the then Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa to India in December 2008, which was subsequently revised in 2013.
India is an observer to the League of Arab States, a pan Arab body with 22 member states.
This is the first India-Arab FMM to be hosted by India in New Delhi.
The League of Arab States (LAS) was formed in Cairo on March 22, 1945, initially comprising Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria.
It initially had seven members to promote the various interests of these nations. Currently, the League has 22 member states from the Arab world, including countries from North Africa and Middle East, including Syria.
It has a number of observer states, including Armenia, Brazil, Chad, Eritrea, Greece, India and Venezuela.
The aim of the LAS is to strengthen and coordinate the political, cultural, economic and social programmes of its members and mediate disputes among them or between them and third parties.
The LAS also maintains good relations with Russia, Brazil, France etc.
India has traditionally enjoyed close and friendly relations with the Arab world. PTI MPB RC
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