India invited to Islamic nations' conclave after 50 years
What's the story
India has, for the first time in five decades, received an invitation to be the 'guest of honor' at the foreign ministers' conclave of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) - an organization of powerful Muslim-majority countries.
The council meet is slated to take place in Abu Dhabi on March 1-2, and Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj will attend the meet.
Here's more.
Definition
A brief history of the OIC
The OIC was founded in 1969, and comprises 57 member states which, as of 2015, had a collective population of 1.8 billion people. 40 members among the 57 are Muslim majority countries, while the others have significant Muslim populations.
Details
India has been invited by UAE's foreign minister
As per a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Swaraj was invited by UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan to be the guest of honor at the inaugural plenary of the 46th meeting of OIC foreign ministers.
The MEA statement said that India had accepted the invite, and also praised "enlightened leadership of the UAE".
Quote
The invitation extended to India is a milestone: MEA
"We see this invitation as a milestone in our comprehensive strategic partnership with the UAE. We also 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," said the MEA statement.
Pakistan
India's presence will come as a huge blow to Pakistan
Notably, India's presence at the conclave will come as a major blow to Pakistan, especially with mounting global pressure on Islamabad in the wake of the Pulwama attack.
While Qatar, in 2002, had proposed that India, which has the world's third-largest Muslim population, be invited as an observer nation, Pakistan had repeatedly blocked India's involvement.
Further, at Pakistan's behest, India had often been criticized by the OIC.
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Pakistan had, for years, kept India out of OIC meets
India had been invited to the first OIC meet in 1969 at the behest of then Saudi monarch King Faisal. However, the Indian delegation had later been asked to skip the meet after then Pakistan President Yahya Khan threatened to walk out if India attended.
Pulwama
Latest in series of diplomatic blows to Pakistan
India being invited to be a guest of honor at the meet is the latest diplomatic blow to Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama attack.
Earlier this week, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), including Pakistan's ally China, had unanimously condemned the Pulwama attack and had held Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) responsible for it.
The international community, too, has come down heavily on Islamabad.