First Ministerial Meeting of Arab-India Cooperation Forum held Manama

The first Ministerial Meeting of Arab-India Cooperation Forum was held Manama, capital city of Bahrain.
The meeting was inaugurated by Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and was attended by representatives of 22 Arab League nations.
Indian side was represented by Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and also Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar.
Key Highlights

• The forum seeks to provide platform for India’s bid to reach out to West Asian nations (22 Arab League nations) to further strengthen the economic, trade and financial cooperation.
• Manama Declaration: Both sides also issued a joint statement called the Manama Declaration.
• Terrorism: The two sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and rejected associating it with any religion.
• They vowed to combat terrorism and called for developing a collective strategy to eliminate its sources and its funding.
• Islamic State: Strongly condemned crimes committed by all terror organisations, especially those committed by the IS.
• Both sides affirmed their respect to the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Iraq and non-interference in its internal affairs in tackling with IS.
• The two sides discussed regional and global issues of mutual concern, including developments in the Arab region and in South Asia, counter-terrorism, United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reforms, Palestinian issue and nuclear disarmament.

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2016