Arab-India Cooperation Forum

The 3rd Senior Officials Meeting of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum was virtually held on January 12, 2021. The Arab-India Cooperation Forum Meeting was co-chaired by Ambassador Mohamed Abu Al-Kheir, Assistant Foreign Minister and Permanent Representative of Egypt to the League of Arab States, and Sanjay Bhattacharyya, Secretary (CPV&OIA). Other senior officials from India and the Arab States also participated in the meeting.

Key Points

• The Senior Officials appreciated the ties between the Arab World and India. They also highlighted that the Forum can play a pivotal role in enhancing Arab-India relations.
• The officials restated the need for political solutions for regional issues in the Middle East as per the relevant international resolutions, agreements and references.
• The officials discussed ways to increase cooperation in the Arab-India Cooperation Forum in the areas of energy and environment; economy, trade and investment; tourism and culture; agriculture and food security; education and health care; human resources development; science and technology, and media.
• The senior officials also agreed to early scheduling of the activities of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum including the Symposium on Arab-India Cooperation in the field of Energy, 3rd Session of Arab-India Cultural Festival, the 1st Arab-India University Presidents Conference, the 6th Session of Arab-India Partnership Conference and the 2nd Symposium on Arab-India Cooperation in the field of Media.

Arab-India Cooperation Forum

The 1st ministerial meeting of the forum was held in January 2016 at Manama, Bahrain. During the meeting, Manama Declaration was adopted by both sides. The Manama Declaration aims to end human trafficking.