India-Arab League talks: Sushma Swaraj in Bahrain, terror tops agenda

Swaraj will also hold bilateral meetings with Foreign Ministers of a number of Arab League countries, including her Bahraini counterpart Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.

Sushma Swaraj, Sushma Swaraj Bahrain, India Arab meeting, Sushma Swaraj Arab meeting,

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and S Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary. (File photo- (PTI)

In a bid to reach out to West Asia where sectarian tensions are running high, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj went to Bahrain Saturday to attend the first ministerial meeting of India-Arab League Cooperation Forum. The meet also assumes significance in the wake of the growing threat of Islamic State in the region.

Sources said this is an opportunity to engage with 22-member countries of Arab League in Manama, Bahrain’s capital, as the region is divided along sectarian lines — especially between regional powers Saudi Arabia and Iran.

“The 22 countries of Arab League are gathering to meet the Indian External Affairs minister. At a time when schism between Shia and Sunni communities is prominent in West Asia, India can be seen as a model by both groups,” a top government source said.

During her two-day visit, Swaraj will also hold bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of a number of Arab League countries. Counter-terrorism cooperation, sources said, is top on agenda. The government is also in talks with some Gulf countries on de-radicalisation of the youth.

Shubhajit Roy

Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More

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