Sushma Swaraj attends OIC summit: All you need to know

NEW DELHI: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj arrived in Abu Dhabi to attend the inaugural session of the Organisation of Islamic Corporation (OIC) assembly in Abu Dhabi where she was once invited as a "guest of honour".

At the summit, Swaraj will address the plenary of the two-day 46th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the 57-member body. She has been invited via UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan to handle the OIC assembly. The minister is likely to underscore India's lengthy and historic dating with the OIC member nations, resources mentioned on Thursday.

What is OIC?

OIC is a meeting of 47 Muslim-majority nations and is the second largest inter-governmental organisation on the earth after the United Nations. The collective inhabitants of OIC member states is over 1.nine billion as of 2018.

This is the primary time that India has been invited to the summit. India is neither a member nor an observer of the gang, in spite of having the 0.33 largest Muslim inhabitants on the earth.

Countries like Russia and Thailand that experience a vital minority Muslim inhabitants are observer states.

Fifty years ago, in 1969 in Morocco, President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was once invited to attend the primary summit of the grouping (on Saudi Arabia's recommendation) just for the invitation to be withdrawn (and the delegation had to return halfway) after Pakistan objected.

The timing of invitation to India

India attends the summit at a time when tensions between India and Pakistan are at an all-time prime. The invitation was once opposed via Pakistan and it has threatened to boycott the meet over India's participation. India has mentioned the invitation is a "welcome recognition of the presence of 185 million Muslims in India and of India's contribution to the Islamic world". The invitation is a big setback for Pakistan (and a diplomatic victory for India) which has used the platform to abuse India (via talking of 'human rights violations in Kashmir') and has consistently opposed India's entry into the gang. The OIC has usually been supportive of Pakistan and regularly sided with Islamabad at the Kashmir factor.

The OIC on Tuesday "condemned" the aerial moves carried out via India deep within Pakistan, urging New Delhi and Islamabad to workout restraint to keep away from further provocations that would "endanger peace and security in the region." It known as on each side to renew bilateral dialogue towards de-escalation of the current scenario "as a matter of priority".

Pakistan objects to Swaraj's presence on the summit

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has threatened to boycott the OIC meet if Swaraj participated.

"I have no reservations with OIC or any other Islamic country. My reservations are with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj's attendance at the OIC meeting. If Swaraj attends the meeting then I will not participate in it," Qureshi was once quoted via Geo News as announcing.

Why now?

India's ties with West Asia, especially UAE, has grown more potent within the final couple of years. Qatar had first proposed observer status for India in 2002. Last year, Turkey and Bangladesh had requested for India's inclusion. India enjoys cordial relations with most OIC participants in my view. UAE, which issued the invitation and has Indians as one-third of its inhabitants, has invested closely in India's infrastructure. It has also helped India's fight towards corruption via deporting fraudsters like Rajiv Saxena and Christian Michel within the AgustaWestland case on India's request.