india

Updated: Jan 25, 2019 08:17 IST

A planned meeting between officials and foreign ministers of India and the Arab League states has been postponed because of scheduling conflicts and lack of cohesion among the Arab nations, people familiar with developments said on Thursday.

The second meeting of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum, created to boost cooperation with the 22-member Arab League, was to be held in New Delhi in late January. “The meeting has been postponed,” said an Arab envoy, who didn’t want to be identified so that he could talk freely about the matter.

The people cited above said no fresh dates have been agreed on for the two-day meeting, which was to have capped the NDA government’s outreach to West Asia, a key source of energy supplies and home to more than

7 million Indians. “We are still in touch with all the stakeholders and it is now expected the meeting will be held after the elections,” said a person.

India had initially proposed February 1 or 2 as the date for the ministerial meeting, which would have been preceded by a meeting of senior officials of the two sides. However, foreign ministers of several Arab League states had indicated they wouldn’t be available on these dates, the people said.

“India wanted maximum participation but when this wasn’t possible, the meet was postponed. It was also difficult to work out alternative dates quickly,” the first person said, adding the scheduling conflict was the main reason for the postponement.

A second person said lack of cohesion among Arab League states, including differences between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, too could have been a factor.