The Secretary General of League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, arrived in India on Friday ahead of the India-Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (IAFMM) that will be held in New Delhi on Saturday.
External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, met Gheit upon his arrival and discussed ways to increase cooperation and strengthen it across various domains.
In a post on X, Jaishakar wrote, “A warm meeting with Secretary General, League of Arab States Ahmed Aboul Gheit this morning. Had a wide ranging conversation about our cooperation and strengthening it across various domains. Also exchanged views on the recent developments in the region.”
This is the first India-Arab FMM to be hosted by India in New Delhi and will see participation by Foreign Ministers, Ministers of State and other senior officials and the Arab League of all 22 Arab countries.
The IAFMM is preceded by the 4th India-Arab Senior Officials’ Meeting on Friday.
The meeting comes amid growing diplomatic efforts to strengthen India-Arab relations, with a focus on economic, energy, and security partnerships.
India is set to host the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (IAFMM) on Saturday, and will co-chair it along with the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Foreign Ministers of other Arab League Member States and the Arab League Secretary General will participate in the meeting, according to a press release from the Ministry of External Affairs.
Also Read: Delegations arrive for India-Arab Foreign Ministers’ meet
The Foreign Ministers’ meeting is taking place after a 10-year hiatus, having last been held in 2016 in Bahrain. During the first FMM, the ministers identified five priority verticals of cooperation, including 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 the existing cooperation, and expanding and deepening the partnership.
AIFMM is the highest institutional mechanism driving this partnership, which was formalised in March 2002 when India and the League of Arab States (LAS) signed an MoU institutionalising the process of dialogue. A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed to establish the Arab-India Cooperation Forum during the visit of the then Arab League Secretary General, Amre Moussa, to India in December 2008, and was subsequently revised in 2013 to reflect a revised structural organisation.
India is an Observer to the League of Arab States, a pan Arab body with 22 member States.
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