Receiving the Indian Minister of External Affairs..Aboul Gheit: The Arab-Indian Cooperation Forum will be held next year in Delhi

 Ashraf AboArafe

Mr. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, received His Excellency Mr. Subramaniam Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs of the Republic of India, on Saturday, 15 October, at the headquarters of the General Secretariat.

Jamal Rushdie, the official spokesman for the Secretary-General, stated that Aboul Gheit welcomed the honorable guest, pointing to the importance and depth of the historical ties linking the Arab world and India, in addition to the complexity of
Trade and cultural relations that contribute to strengthening ties between the two sides.

The spokesman added that the Secretary-General and the Indian Minister agreed on the importance of holding the next session of the Arab-Indian Cooperation Forum in New Delhi in the first half of 2023, after it was postponed several times, including due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The spokesman explained that the two sides expressed their keenness to activate the work of the Arab-Indian Cooperation Forum, which was established in 2008 because of its great potentials that can be exploited at all levels, noting in this context that the volume of trade exchange between the Arab and Indian sides reached in 2021 about 148 billion dollars.

The spokesman also indicated that Aboul Gheit agreed with the visiting minister on the importance of continuing to hold activities and events for the forum, because of their positive impact on Arab-Indian relations in general and as an important and complementary factor to the political discussions undertaken by foreign ministers.

The spokesman indicated that the talks dealt with various international issues of common interest, foremost of which is the Palestinian issue, where the Secretary-General emphasized the main pillars of the Arab position on the issue. The Secretary-General welcomed what the visiting minister presented in this regard, as he stressed that the Palestinian cause enjoys consensual political support within India, which continues to emphasize the same commitment to supporting Palestinian rights, which was welcomed by the Secretary-General. Aboul Gheit also thanked the Indian side for its continuous support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The spokesman indicated that the meeting also witnessed an exchange of views on the war in Ukraine and its effects on the economic and social conditions at the global level.