India Hosts Key Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting to Deepen Strategic Ties

The high-level meeting will be co-chaired by India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and will be attended by foreign ministers and senior representatives of all 22 member states of the Arab League, along with the Arab League Secretary General.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the meeting is being held after a gap of nearly a decade, with the first India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting having taken place in 2016 in Bahrain. "The 2nd India-Arab FMM is expected to build on our existing cooperation, expanding and deepening this partnership," the MEA said in its official release.

The India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting is the highest institutional mechanism guiding cooperation between India and the League of Arab States (LAS). The dialogue framework was formalised in March 2002 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between India and the Arab League.

Subsequently, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed in December 2008 during the visit of the then Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa, leading to the establishment of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum. This framework was later revised in 2013 to strengthen its structural organisation. India currently holds observer status in the Arab League.

At the first Foreign Ministers' Meeting in 2016, the two sides identified five priority areas of cooperation, economy, energy, education, media and culture, and proposed a range of activities across these sectors. Officials said the meeting will focus on reviewing progress made so far and exploring ways to further enhance collaboration in these key areas, reflecting the growing political, economic and strategic engagement between India and Arab countries.

This is also the first time India is hosting the India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi, underscoring the importance New Delhi attaches to its partnership with the Arab world. The MEA noted that the meeting "will see participation by all 22 Arab countries by Foreign Ministers, other Ministers, Ministers of State and other Senior Officials and Arab League."

Ahead of today's ministerial-level talks, the 4th India-Arab Senior Officials' Meeting was held on January 30, setting the stage for detailed discussions and coordination.

Diplomatic observers view the meeting as a key platform to give fresh momentum to India-Arab relations at a time of evolving regional and global challenges, with an emphasis on economic cooperation, energy security and people-to-people ties.

- IANS