New Delhi: External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar held a meeting with his Sudanese counterpart Mohieldin Salim Ahmed Ibrahim here on Friday and reiterated India’s position for an end to violence in Sudan and return to dialogue.
In a post on X, EAM Jaishankar wrote: “A cordial meeting this afternoon with FM Mohieldin Salim Ahmed Ibrahim of Sudan. Reiterated India’s position for an end to violence in Sudan and return to dialogue. Discussed our ongoing humanitarian support and exchanges in education and capacity building. Committed to further activities in that regard.”
Ibrahim arrived in New Delhi on Thursday to attend the second India Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting scheduled to be held on January 31. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that Ibrahim’s visit to India will further strengthen people-to-people ties between the two nations.
“Delighted to welcome H.E. Mohieldin Salim Ahmed Ibrahim, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Republic of Sudan for the second India Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. The visit will further strengthen people to people ties between India and Sudan,” Jaiswal posted on X.
India is set to host the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (IAFMM) on January 31. The meeting, being hosted by India and the United Arab Emirates, will have the participation of Foreign Ministers of other Arab League Member States and the Arab League Secretary General.
The second India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting is expected to build on existing cooperation and expand the partnership. It will be preceded by the 4th India-Arab Senior Officials’ Meeting.
The Foreign Ministers’ meeting is taking place after 10 years, as the first meeting was held in Bahrain in 2016. During the first Foreign Ministers Meeting, the leaders identified five priority verticals of cooperation – economy, energy, education, media, and culture and proposed a set of activities across these verticals.
“India Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is the highest institutional mechanism driving this partnership, which was formalised in March 2002 when India and the League of Arab States (LAS) signed an MoU institutionalising the process of dialogue,” the MEA stated.
“A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed for the establishment of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum during the visit of the then Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa to India in December 2008, which was subsequently revised in 2013 in terms of structural organisation. India is an Observer to the League of Arab States, a pan Arab body with 22 member States,” it added.
(IANS)
