External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will be participating at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foriegn minister meeting from 1st and 2nd March. She will be received with full honour in UAE and will be speaking in the plenary session. During her speech at the meet in Abu Dhabi, Sushma Swaraj will underscore the long historical ties India has with the members of OIC.
This is the 1st time India has been invited as a guest of honour at the OIC.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has threatened to boycott the OIC FMs meet if EAM Swaraj comes. The Pakistani foriegn ministry spokesperson said if Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj goes, Pakistani foriegn minister, SM Qureshi won't be going.
Pakistan's foriegn minister Qureshi has written to OIC Secretary-General Dr Yousef bin Ahmad Al Othaimeen asking him that UAE should rescind invite to India or Islamabad will reconsider its decision to attend the meet in Abu Dhabi.
It is important to highlight, way back in 1969 the Indian delegation led by Congress leader Fakrudin Ali Ahmed, who later became the President of India, was not allowed to attend the final session of the OIC in Rabat, Morocco at the behest of Pakistan's then-president, Yahya Khan.
UAE had invited India for the OIC Meet. The UAE in a statement said we will open session next Friday "with the participation of 56 member states & 5 observer states, as well as the friendly Republic of India with all its International political weight and diverse cultural heritage and an important Islamic component, as a guest of honour"
Welcoming the invitation, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) in a statement said," We see this invitation as a welcome recognition of the presence of 185 million Muslims in India and of their contribution to its pluralistic ethos, and of India’s contribution to the Islamic world."
The Indian presence can be seen as a big diplomatic coup in the backdrop of New Delhi's hyphenation between Israel and Palestine, which was being criticised. India has been engaging with several Arab capitals with a number of high-level visits from West Asia to India and vice versa in last 4 years.
