What is OIC?

A first

The timing of invitation to India

Pakistan objects to Swaraj's presence at the summit

Why now?

NEW DELHI: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj arrived in Abu Dhabi on Friday night to attend the inaugural session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation ( OIC ) meeting in Abu Dhabi where she was 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 by UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan to address the OIC meeting. The minister is likely to underscore India's long and historical relationship with the OIC member countries, sources said on Thursday.OIC is a gathering of 47 Muslim-majority countries and is the second largest inter-governmental organisation in the world after the United Nations. The collective population of OIC member states is over 1.9 billion as of 2018.This is the first time that India has been invited to the summit . India is neither a member nor an observer of the group, despite having the third largest Muslim population in the world.Countries like Russia and Thailand that have a significant minority Muslim population are observer states.Fifty years ago, in 1969 in Morocco, President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was invited to attend the first summit of the grouping (on Saudi Arabia's suggestion) only for the invitation to be withdrawn (and the delegation had to return midway) after Pakistan objected.India attends the summit at a time when tensions between India and Pakistan are at an all-time high. The invitation was opposed by Pakistan and it has threatened to boycott the meet over India's participation. India has said 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 (by talking of 'human rights violations in Kashmir') and has consistently opposed India's entry into the group. The OIC has usually been supportive of Pakistan and often sided with Islamabad on the Kashmir issue.The OIC on Tuesday "condemned" the aerial strikes carried out by India deep inside Pakistan, urging New Delhi and Islamabad to exercise restraint to avoid further provocations that would "endanger peace and security in the region." It called on both sides to resume bilateral dialogue towards de-escalation of the current situation "as a matter of priority".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 quoted by Geo News as saying.India's ties with West Asia, especially UAE, has grown stronger in the last couple of years. Qatar had first proposed observer status for India in 2002. Last year, Turkey and Bangladesh had asked for India's inclusion. India enjoys cordial relations with most OIC members individually. UAE, which issued the invitation and has Indians as one-third of its population, has invested heavily in India's infrastructure. It has also helped India's fight against corruption by deporting fraudsters like Rajiv Saxena and Christian Michel in the AgustaWestland case on India's request.