Jaishankar Meets Comoros Counterpart, Boosts Ties in Health & Sports

"A pleasure to meet Foreign Minister Mbae Mohamed of Comoros today. Discussed cooperation in health, sports, infrastructure and capacity building. Agreed on the importance of more frequent engagements between our two countries", EAM Jaishankar wrote, in a post on X.

On Thursday, Mbae Mohamed arrived in New Delhi to attend the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers' meeting. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal noted that Mohamed's visit to India will strengthen ties between the two nations.

"Warm welcome to Foreign Minister Mbae Mohamed of Comoros on his arrival in New Delhi to attend the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' meet. His visit will further strengthen the cordial relations between India and the Union of the Comoros," Jaiswal posted on X.

India established diplomatic ties with Comoros in 1976, and the Embassy of India in Antananarivo is also accredited to Comoros. India and Comoros share close and friendly ties. Both nations are members of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and share similar views on regional and multilateral issues of importance.

India is set to host the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting (IAFMM) on January 31. The meeting, being hosted by India and the United Arab Emirates, will have the participation of Foreign Ministers of other Arab League member states and the Arab League Secretary General.

The second India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting is expected to build on existing cooperation and expand the partnership. It will be preceded by the 4th India-Arab Senior Officials' Meeting.

The Foreign Ministers' meeting is taking place after 10 years, as the first meeting was held in Bahrain in 2016. During the first Foreign Ministers Meeting, the leaders identified five priority verticals of cooperation - economy, energy, education, media, and culture and proposed a set of activities across these verticals.

"India Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting 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," the MEA stated.

"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 in terms of structural organisation. India is an Observer to the League of Arab States, a pan Arab body with 22 member States," it added.

- IANS