External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, in New Delhi to discuss strengthening cooperation between India and the Arab League across multiple sectors. The meeting highlighted India’s commitment to deepening its engagement with the Arab world and enhancing collaboration on regional and global issues.
Following the interaction, EAM Jaishankar described the talks as warm and productive, noting that discussions covered a wide range of areas of cooperation along with an exchange of views on recent regional developments. The meeting comes at a crucial time as India hosts key diplomatic engagements with Arab nations.
Ahmed Aboul Gheit arrived in New Delhi to participate in the second India–Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (IAFMM) and related events. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) welcomed the Arab League chief, emphasizing that the high-level meetings reflect a shared commitment to strengthening the India–Arab partnership across sectors.
India is hosting the 2nd India–Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on January 31, which will be co-chaired by India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The meeting will see the participation of Foreign Ministers from all 22 Arab League member states, along with the Arab League Secretary General, making it a significant diplomatic gathering.
The upcoming meeting is particularly important as it is being held after a gap of 10 years, with the first such meeting conducted in 2016 in Bahrain. During the inaugural meeting, ministers identified five priority areas of cooperation: economy, energy, education, media, and culture, and proposed several initiatives to advance collaboration in these fields.
According to the MEA, the second IAFMM aims to build on existing cooperation and further expand and deepen the India–Arab partnership. The Foreign Ministers’ Meeting remains the highest institutional mechanism guiding this relationship, which was formally established in March 2002 through a Memorandum of Understanding between India and the League of Arab States.
India is also an Observer to the Arab League, a regional organization comprising 22 member states. The continued dialogue underscores India’s growing role and long-term strategic engagement with the Arab world.
