New Delhi, Jan 30 (IANS) External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar held a meeting with his Libyan counterpart Eltaher S.M. Elbaour here on Friday, discussing advancing cooperation in trade, business, infrastructure, and energy sectors.

During the meeting, Elbaour briefed Jaishankar on the situation in Libya.

“Good to meet FM Eltaher S M Elbaour of Libya this afternoon. Held productive discussions on advancing our cooperation in trade, business, infrastructure and energy domains. Appreciate his briefing on the situation in Libya. Underscored India’s advocacy of dialogue and diplomacy for enduring peace and stability in the region,” EAM Jaishankar posted on X.

Elbaour arrived in New Delhi on Friday, on his first visit to India, to attend the India-Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (IAFMM) scheduled to be held on Saturday.

Welcoming Elbaour, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, in a post on X, wrote: “A warm welcome to Foreign Minister of Libya H.E. Eltaher S M Elbaour on his first visit to India. His participation in the India-Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (IAFMM) and engagements in New Delhi will build a positive momentum in taking our bilateral ties forward.”

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

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